High profile gambling group, GVC Holdings, has significantly expanded its online betting profile in the Australian market with the acquisition of Neds International, for an initial price of AUS $68 million.
Neds is a new entrant in the Australian online betting industry, launching in 2017, but it has managed to establish itself quickly, and in latest figures, was shown to have taken bets worth around AUS $1 billion and recorded a gross gaming revenue figure of $100 million. The company was founded and led by the former Ladbrokes Australia executives Dean Shannon and Paul Cherry.
The purchase of Neds will enable GVC to further expands its presence in the Australian market, which is currently represented by the ‘Ladbrokes Australia’ brand. And if the acquisition proves to be successful, under the terms laid out by the GVC executive leadership, the deal could eventually be worth up to AUS $95 million.
Speaking about the deal in his update for investors, the GVC CEO, Kenneth Alexander, said that Australia was an important market for the group and that Neds would provide a significant boost to GVC’s position in the country:
Neds is an exciting business, with talented people and enables us to further grow market share through two differentiated brands.”
In other information about the deal, GVC have highlighted that the proprietary technology owned by Neds was a key factor in the acquisition, and will enable the group to enhance its existing capacities and operations in the country, and potentially save up to $16 million annually by 2020.
Although the betting market in Australia is large, the industry has been under fire in recent months, and the recently enacted ban on gambling advertising during live sports events represents a particularly tough challenge, so the acquisition of Neds will also offer GVC a degree of extra security.
