PartyPoker Owners GVC in $5.2billion Talks to Acquire UK Betting Giants

Scotsman Kenny Alexander, the man behind GVC Holdings – which owns PartyPoker – and who tried twice last year to buy out the betting giants Ladbrokes Coral, will be hoping it’s third time lucky as his company enters talks, a possible $5.24 billion merger on the discussion table.

If the deal finally goes through, it would result in GVC taking over the bookmaking chain in a move which would shake-up the entire UK sportsbetting market, Alexander himself in line to become CEO of the combined group, a post he holds now with GVC.

Quite what it means for the poker elements of any new and bigger company is unclear, most of the focus at the moment on two other areas of interest – fixed odds betting terminals and more than 3700 bricks-and-mortar bookmaking outlets.

At the moment, GVC owns brands such as Foxy Bingo and Sporting Bet as well as the PartyPoker brand which has had so much success recently, with much the overall success down to Alexander’s business acumen which has ‘taken GVC from being an Aim-listed minnow to a £2.75bn member of the FTSE 250 in a decade’, according to SkyNews.com.

The most surprising part of the recent announcement is that GVC haven’t waited for the completion of an investigation into the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) – a highly lucrative part of the sportsbetting market in the UK which has seen much controversy recently – the governmental review being carried out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The review body is  ‘likely to impose a lower maximum stake per spin on the machines which, depending on how low the figure is, is likely to take a chunk out of the profits of bookmakers’, according to Sky.

When it comes to GVC’s poker holdings - PartyPoker.com -  the growth has been dramatic, with September figures from PokerIndustryPro.com showing that ‘both first half revenues and third quarter revenues grew substantially year-over-year, with much of the growth coming from PartyPoker’.

Kenny Alexander explained the impressive showing, stating that:

"A combination of factors are behind the impressive growth including product development, increased marketing, localized market focus and improved player experience."

He added:

"I am delighted with the strong progress across the group, which has continued to exceed our expectations since last year’s acquisition of bwin.party. A combination of high-quality talent, proprietary technology, and proven brands are key components driving the business forward."