by Anton Johan
Earlier this week, the Sunday Times reported that the London listed Sportingbet and its Swedish rival, Unibet, were in secret merger talks.
While Sportingbet confirmed that it has involved in talks, it would not name Unibet as its potential partner.
Today, however, Sportingbet was forced to announce that Unibet Group had withdrawn from the talks.
"Unibet informed the company today that it has withdrawn from" discussions, said Sportingbet in a news statement.
As a result, Sportingbet saw its shares fall the most in over 20 months on the London Stock Exchange.
Prices fell as much as 9.2%, the hardest hit since March 2009.
Nevertheless, Sportingbet said that it would continue to hold talks in a bid to widen its markets and revenue potential.
Sportingbet "has had and will continue to have discussions with different parties in relation to a variety of potential options," according to the group.
After Sportingbet confirmed that it was involved in talks on Monday, shares rose by 8% but, as noted, these dropped with the news of Unibet's withdrawal.
This past September, Sportingbet agreed to pay the US government $33 million in settlement fees as a penalty for offering US citizens online gambling services in the years leading up to 2006, when the UIGEA came into being.
