Billionaire owner of Stake.com building 'secret position' in PointsBet

[The Buzz]

According to an Australian Financial Review article last week, Ed Craven, the Australian billionaire who founded the cryptocurrency casino Stake.com, and his business associate have discreetly acquired a significant interest in PointsBet with the goal of securing a presence in the local betting market.

Back in May, Fanatics acquired PointsBet US business for $150 million.

From the article:

Mr Craven and his business partner, Bijan Tehrani suggested late last year that they planned to diversify assets and enter the legal Australian gambling market.

A number of wagering sources, who weren’t authorised to speak publicly on the matter, said Mr Craven and Mr Tehrani have spent the past month building a stake in the business and now hold about 4.2 per cent of the shareholder register. The stake was acquired through EasyGo Gaming, another of their businesses, according to the sources.

Mr Craven and Mr Tehrani declined to comment.

It is unclear if the billionaire businessmen plan to keep increasing their position, but their interest in the ASX-listed wagering operator is a clear sign that Mr Craven and Mr Tehrani are interested in investing in more traditional forms of gambling.

Stake.com’s global business is registered in Curacao and run from Melbourne. However, Australians cannot legally play any of Stake.com’s games because customers bet with cryptocurrency. In an interview last year with The Australian, Mr Tehrani said the company would separately be applying for an Australian wagering licenc

Read the article here: https://www.afr.com/companies/games-...0231211-p5eqmm