{"id":42301,"date":"2016-11-28T18:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T02:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=42301"},"modified":"2016-11-28T18:01:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T02:01:31","slug":"ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladbrokes Coral Looks to Spoil Tabcorp-Tatts Merger Party"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes Coral could be plotting a bid for Tabcorp, thus disrupting the biggest merger in Aussie gambling history. But would Tabcorp be interested in a tie-in with an outsider?
(Image: The Guardian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is Ladbrokes Coral about to gatecrash the biggest merger in the history of Australia\u2019s gambling industry?<\/p>\n

The UK betting powerhouse is believed to be preparing a $2 billion-plus bid for Tabcorp, the Australia\u2019s biggest bookmaker, which itself is negotiating a merger with its closest homegrown competitor, Tatts.<\/p>\n

The problem is, Ladbrokes Coral, which completed its own historic merger just weeks ago, isn\u2019t interested in Tatts, according to reports. That means it would need to disrupt the deal in order to get its way.<\/p>\n

This is ironic because much of the strategic thinking behind the Tabcorp-Tatts deal was to consolidate in the face of increased competition from mainly UK-based offshore companies, just like Ladbrokes Coral.<\/p>\n

Aussie bookmakers have been at loggerheads with offshore companies since the deregulation of licensing in the country in 2012.<\/p>\n

“The offshore bookmakers have been consolidating and have been penetrating our domestic market. The merger of these two businesses creates a stronger platform for us to compete nationally and globally,” said Harry Boon, chairman of Tatts, of his company\u2019s proposed merger with Tabcorp, recently.<\/p>\n

Disruptive Influences<\/b><\/h2>\n

The UK companies have brought with them a degree technological disruption; superior mobile offerings with features such as in-play betting.<\/p>\n

In April, the Australian government banned the practice of in-play betting. The move was criticized by the offshore operators as \u201ca win for the lazy, traditional monopoly wagering operators in Australia [read Tabcorp and Tatts] who are more interested in protecting their monopoly than giving consumers what they want.”<\/p>\n

But despite the obvious cultural differences, a merger between Ladbrokes Coral and Tabcorp<\/a> could have an intrinsic logic.<\/p>\n

\n

Tabcorp and Tatts first attempted to merge a decade ago, but that deal was vetoed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which felt the stranglehold a combined company would hold on the market would be detrimental to competition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Early Stages<\/b><\/h2>\n

It is possible that the new merger proposal could once again be blocked by the ACCC, although the fact that the presence of offshore operators is so much more pronounced than it was ten years ago may help to offset fears about market competitiveness.<\/p>\n

But a deal with Ladbrokes would not be subject to this particular risk.<\/p>\n

According to the UK\u2019s Daily Telegraph, however, Ladbrokes<\/a> is not believed to be preparing a statement, which suggests that any potential proposal is in its early stages and not a certainty.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, analysts in Australia were retaining a certain skepticism this morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think this would be a relatively difficult bite for Ladbrokes given the size of the deal; Tabcorp\u2019s market cap of $3.9 billion vs. Labbrokes\u2019 $A4 billion and given Ladbrokes only just closed on the purchase of UK gaming company Gala Coral,\u201d said Citi analysts in a note to investors.<\/p>\n

Ladbrokes is believed to have approached Tabcorp regarding a merger sometime in 2013 but was rebuffed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Ladbrokes Coral about to gatecrash the biggest merger in the history of Australia\u2019s gambling industry? The UK betting powerhouse is believed to be preparing a $2 billion-plus bid for Tabcorp, the Australia\u2019s biggest bookmaker, which itself is negotiating a merger with its closest homegrown competitor, Tatts. The problem is, Ladbrokes Coral, which completed its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":42302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLadbrokes Coral Looks to Spoil Tabcorp-Tatts Merger Party<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral is mulling a bid for Tabcorp but Tatts would not be included in the mix.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral Looks to Spoil Tabcorp-Tatts Merger Party\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ladbrokes Coral is mulling a bid for Tabcorp but Tatts would not be included in the mix.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-29T02:00:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-29T02:01:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Ladbrokes-reviews3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"416\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/\",\"name\":\"Ladbrokes Coral Looks to Spoil Tabcorp-Tatts Merger Party\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Ladbrokes-reviews3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-29T02:00:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-29T02:01:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Ladbrokes Coral is mulling a bid for Tabcorp but Tatts would not be included in the mix.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-coral-looks-spoil-tabcorp-tatts-merger-party\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Ladbrokes-reviews3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Ladbrokes-reviews3.jpg\",\"width\":618,\"height\":416,\"caption\":\"Ladbrokes Coral could be plotting a bid for Tabcorp, thus disrupting the biggest merger in Aussie gambling history. 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