Sport is made for betting

There's no denying that Australia is a nanny state now. Political correctness, occupational health & safety and ambulance-chasing lawyers have changed the fabric of society, almost entirely for the poorer. A couple of years ago, a constitutional challenge by corporate bookmakers and Betfair threw out the age-old ban on bookmakers advertising in states other than the one they were licensed in. It defied the constitutional notion of free trade across state borders which every other industry had benefitted from since federation in 1901. But the nanny state mentality fought back in order to protect their once state-owned monopoly TABs, with the banning of incentives for free bets - standard marketing practice anywhere else in the world. Bookies charged for bet offers CHARGES have been laid against three bookmakers just four days out from the biggest event of the Spring Carnival. The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulaion has laid charges against three bookmaker firms ove...

As mentioned on this blog previously, Centrebet is very keen to be bought out and some of the big boys of the global industry have been sniffing around. William Hill is believed to have bid A$132m for the company according to this report , although the deal is not exclusive. Ladbrokes and Bwin are still evaluating their own bids. Watch the video on that link to hear the comical pronunciation of Bwin by the Aussie 'never been out of Sydney in my life' presenter. How does A$132m stack up? In 2003, Centrebet was bought by SportOdds (the Kafataris family) for A$46.55m, although Jupiters Casino Group did say they wanted an unrealistic A$150m for it at the time. IASBet changed hands last year for around A$60m (after Centrebet posted a hostile bid for about half that amount). The big variation in cost is the value of the AUD vs GBP - back in 2003, the $46.55m was worth less than £20m. Now on the very strong AUD, the A$132m equates to £80m. Still, it sounds about the right sort of pric...

It may not be Bwin after all, as I predicted a few weeks ago, but the news is out in Australia that several different UK suitors are sniffing around the pioneer of online sports betting, Centrebet. Centrebet rockets on takeover talks SHARE investors piled into Centrebet yesterday as three British gaming companies loomed as potential bidders to take over the listed online wagering and gaming company. ... Analysts said Centrebet -- which is 60 per cent owned by the family of its chief executive, Con Kafataris -- was a good fit for foreign companies wanting to get a stake in the Australian market ahead of expected deregulation. British operators Ladbrokes, William Hill and Sportingbet are the reported overseas suitors for Centrebet and some analysts believe the takeover price could reach $2 a share. The Productivity Commission recently recommended a swag of reforms thought to be favourable for growth in online sportsbooks and casinos in Australia. The Australian market is undergoing major...

In Australia, the three main zones for corporate bookmakers are the Northern Territory (home of Centrebet, Sportsbet, Sportingbet, IASBet and numerous others), Tasmania (home of Betfair Aus) and the ACT (home of Sportsalive). When I say home, it's at least where their servers are based and a handful of staff - most have marketing and other departments based in Melbourne or Sydney. These three regions, two territories and Australia's smallest state, have little industry to speak of and need businesses in their region for employment, taxes etc. And they also have no deep-seated allegiance to TABs like the bigger states such as Victoria and New South Wales. Internet bookmakers in NT welcome tax change Tasmania recently threw the cat amongst the pigeons by scrapping the local tax on corporate bookmakers and adopting a $250k annual flat fee, a very attractive prospect for major firms turning over hundreds of millions per year. This was brought on by Betfair's five-year licence b...

Paddy Power haven't taken long to put their stamp on the Australian market. Just a couple of weeks after buying 51% of the Matthew Tripp-owned Sportsbet, they have now launched a bid to takeover Mark Read's IASBet. Read's company have been on the market for months, most recently with a hostile takeover bid rejected from Centrebet. 'Chopper' is getting old and wants to enjoy his later years rather than watching his sons piss all his money up against the wall, which isn't as far-fetched as it seems. The IAS board have approved the deal of 60c per share (last traded at 50c, and was trading at half that price at the start of the year) and unaminously recommend it to all shareholders. Read the IAS announcement to the ASX here The Australian wagering landscape is changing rapidly and Paddy Power have well and truly gotten the jump on any of their UK/Irish counterparts.

This has been in the pipeline for a while but I was asked to keep quiet on it to protect my source. Paddy Power take control of Sportsbet Ireland's leading bookmaking firm Paddy Power, mooted to be a bidder for TAB licenses in Australia, has purchased a 51 per cent stake in Northern Territory-based Sportsbet. Racing Post reported that Paddy Power had paid an initial €27.2 million for the majority stake in the company established by the Tripp family. The tricky part here is that Sportsbet own nearly 20% of IAS, who are up for sale as well. It's all go in the Australian betting market at the moment. Sportsbet, based in Darwin, was the original sports bookmaker in Australia. It was founded in the late 80s by Bryan Clark who sold the business a decade later. It has since changed hands a couple of times before the Tripp group purchased it and improved it significantly. And now they've been able to cash in on their hard work. Paddy Power buys Sportsbet stake, shares rise It sound...

Canbet sold to Yin Khing Investments for $1million Hardly a surprise, Canbet has been a lemon for sometime. Back around 2000, Canbet was flying. Licensed and run from Canberra (hence the name), it was a leading brand for betting on US sports, betting tight margins and trading the American way - copy the Vegas line and move it when everyone else does. Move the price a few cents and the scalpers come in to balance up the books. But then they got too ambitious and tried the same formula on European and Australian sports. They failed dismally. They moved the operation to the UK to gain more European clients and make better use of the timezone, but all the while, employing little resource at risk management and trading. A sportsbook valued at over US$20m was going downhill fast. Then along came tighter regulations in the US, forcing Canbet to cut all their ties with American customers, who had been the entire reason the business was profitable. IASBet came along soon after and bought Canbet...

No surprise after the Takeover Review Panel ruled against them breaking the conditions of a standstill agreement. Bets off at Centrebet Will it stop Centrebet's expansion ambitions? I doubt it. Bit I doubt there is any other Australian firm big enough to have any value acquiring. Perhaps they have to head to the UK or the Caribbean? Will it mean IAS gets sold at a price closer to the unrealistic valuation Mark Read and his board have in mind? I doubt that very much too.... Have a bet with these bookies: Sign up for your free $100 bet with IAS today £25 Free Bet at Centrebet

The IAS sale plans take another turn. After Centrebet had a crack with a hostile offer then had a ruling against them by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) over releasing details of private discussions late last year, Sportsbet Pty Ltd run by Matt Tripp have purchased 10.15% of IAS shares. This announcement can be found on the ASX site under company code IAS. An interesting development, particularly as Sportsbet have been rumoured to be chatting to potential foreign partners. Just where will this one head?

Mark Read has been trying to sell IAS for a while, but asking a ridiculous price. This sounds a bit more like it, although I'm not sure exactly what Centrebet will gain from it. I doubt there'd be too many punters betting at IAS that don't already have Centrebet accts. Read the SMH article here I worked for IAS in 98-99 and still have some shares left after they floated during that time. They're worth about 10% of what I paid for them, now I'll be able to cash in and buy three cases of beer, hooray! FURTHER UPDATE Online gaming group International All Sports gained 11c, or 68.75 per cent, to 27c after rival Centrebet made a takeover bid for it at a minimum $18.59 million and up to $29.91 million. Centrebet last traded at $1.34. 204,000 shares traded today, with a low of 26.5 cents. Price opened significantly higher, as usually happens with takeover bids. Rumours abound that the board will resist the hostile takeover. FEB 3 UPDATE From The Australian newspaper "...

With the Victorian retail licence up for grabs in 2012 (TABCorp currently hold the licensed monopoly for off-course betting shops in the state of Victoria), it was only to be expected that the big players might get involved. Tabcorp might re-bid, Tattersall's/UniTAB might add to their control of Queensland and SA or perhaps a firm like Betfair might make a bid, considering they are probably favourite to buy the Tasmanian TAB. Well, UK betting giant Ladbrokes have voiced their intention to bid with a well-publicised tour of Melbourne. British betting giant wants to control punting in Victoria Here's the original market from IAS , it's changed a bit already (although Mark Read is never afraid to tweak odds purely for the publicity). Latest odds can be found here . Mainland Aussie govts are very insular. It took a 'rebel' state in Tasmania to give a licence to Betfair, I can't see a non-Australian firm getting the licence. But I've been wrong before and no doub...

Rumours have been rife in recent months and this article confirms it, IASBet, the Australian corporate bookmaking operation headed by Mark Read, is up for sale. Read must be about 60 now and probably feels the time is right to sit back and enjoy his money rather than stressing about the demands of shareholders. Ever since floating back in 1999 at $2, it's been a pretty lame stock, most recently trading around the 30c mark. He hopes to sell for $1 a share which is pretty ambitious in the current climate. I started my career in the betting industry and still own a small lump of shares. I'd be happy to get any more than the two cases of beer it has been worth for the past five years!