Amaya Inc. T.TSGI

Further observer comments on Stars Group recent moves

[ozphoenix]

Excerpted from todays' Gambing Insider Friday bulletin:

'.... Looking at this from an outsider’s perspective you can see why both parties are keen to talk up the possibilities of the new business. Warwick Bartlett, CEO of gaming consultants, GBGC gives GI his thoughts: “It’s a deal you do not have to think twice about. “It makes perfect sense, Stars lessens its exposure to unregulated markets and Sky has the opportunity to migrate its casino and poker to proprietary software. The Sky Openbet platform is US ready, and because of the Sky focus towards mobile gambling it is ideal for the mass US market.” Ben Robinson of M&A specialists RB Capital, adds: “This is a very timely and strategic sale by CVC (the majority shareholder in Sky Bet) given the very favourable price and price/ earnings ratios reported. The Stars Group’s acquisition of Sky Betting and Gaming’s is in no way a surprising move and now seems like part of a master plan that augments the recent spending spree in Australian waters.” If the latest press reports are to be believed, UK Chancellor Philip Hammond will soon announce sweeping cuts to fixed odds betting terminals maximum stakes, placing the value of multiple UK land-based gambling businesses at risk, making them ripe targets for merger hungry diversified businesses like GVC Holdings and The Stars Group. The benefits of these mergers are threefold: You build a business which can survive any FOBT crackdown, gain access to a larger market (as SBG have done) and you generate a positive returnfor your shareholders. One thing is for sure, we haven’t seen the last big corporate merger of 2018. So the question becomes who will be the next business to be acquired?....'


Full bulletin linked here