Ladbrokes Future?

[webanalysissolutions]

A lot of industry buzz around at the moment about the future of Ladbrokes. I've heard Paddy Power might be interested in buying them, and then this today, a possible merger with Gala Coral:
http://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/...nal-operations

Will be interesting to see how it plays out, and interesting to see the impact on affiliates. I presume any buyer or merger would keep the brand, and therefore it would operate as a separate brand and affiliate program.

Industry consolidation has been talked about for a number of years now, but it seems it's gathering pace now as companies find it increasingly more difficult to do business in an industry sector that is maturing.

[-Shay-]

The "competition concerns" that played the part in blocking the attempted merger in 1998 has not gone away, has it?

[Christiaan]

I had a good talk with the affiliate people from Ladbrokes today. But they didn't mention anything about this topic. They probably don't know anything either.

[webanalysissolutions]

I had a good talk with the affiliate people from Ladbrokes today. But they didn't mention anything about this topic. They probably don't know anything either.

It's a long term thing - affiliate managers would have no interest in speculating because their performance is purely based on how many people, new banners, homepage spots they can gain from attending the conference.

Also, as you say, they'll probably not know much. In fact they'll probably know what we know from the media. I've been in a few companies where this sort of thing has gone on, and it's usually limited to a few senior discussions.

All that said, it's looking likely changes will happen, so keep your eyes open as an affiliate as we've all been done over in the past by various mergers and acquisitions activity

[Triple7]

I had a good talk with the affiliate people from Ladbrokes today. But they didn't mention anything about this topic. They probably don't know anything either.

They're not involved in this sort of things. They are employees. To me quite comparable with for example employees of Deutsche Bank. They also don't know all the topics that are discussed at the highest level of the company. The employees know what we all know and what's in the media.

Ladbrokes needs to do something. Online they are clearly underperforming. A merge with Coral gives them some time to transform things and makes them too big to buy for Paddy Power.

[blackriver]

Industry consolidation has been talked about for a number of years now, but it seems it's gathering pace now as companies find it increasingly more difficult to do business in an industry sector that is maturing.

We will see more of this in the future. Unfortunately, mergers and acquisitions are nothing good for affiliates.

[golfbettingsystem]

The "competition concerns" that played the part in blocking the attempted merger in 1998 has not gone away, has it?

There was quite an extensive piece on this in yesterday's Racing Post, a combined Coral/Ladbrokes would have over 4,000 betting shops which is around 45% of the British market so that's likely to be an issue still. Then again, online is a much bigger chunk of their businesses nowadays so maybe not as much of an issue as it was back then.

[webanalysissolutions]

There was quite an extensive piece on this in yesterday's Racing Post, a combined Coral/Ladbrokes would have over 4,000 betting shops which is around 45% of the British market so that's likely to be an issue still. Then again, online is a much bigger chunk of their businesses nowadays so maybe not as much of an issue as it was back then.

I've heard figures such as 50% of all business for some bookies is still done on the high street. There will always be a market for those people who want the social aspect of going to a bookies, plus with the advent of betting machines in shops, which generate a lot of revenue, I wouldn't be surprised if a significant proportion of revenue from these two companies still came from land based operations.

Think i'd rather see Ladbrokes merge with Coral than go to Paddy Power though. Would be nice if the affiliate operation was brought back to the UK too and migrated away from the Mexos system.

[BetterNick]

The "competition concerns" that played the part in blocking the attempted merger in 1998 has not gone away, has it?

Shows how quickly things change, two of the Big-3 back then, now they're minor players in a "Big-10"

Guess the shops could be an issue but these days do they really affect choice and competition? Guess your denying people the choice of an Inspector Gadget FOBT and a Coronation St one but in terms of the betting markets it'll make little difference.