by Renee Israel
Sportingbet, the London listed online gaming operator and
leading sportsbook, announced that it has signed a conditional agreement with
East Pioneer Corporation BV to sell its Turkish language interests.
The gaming site SuperBahis.com, which provides sportsbetting services in
Turkish, will be sold to East Pioneer BV. Associated offshore assets of
SuperBahis will be included in the deal.
East Pioneer BV is a group backed by European online gaming group, GVC
The online sportsbook Sportingbet sold its Turkish interests to East Pioneer
for a minimum consideration of £125 million in cash.
The sale of the Sportingbet's Turkish site was arranged via the Longfrie
Limited subsidiary.
One of the conditions of the sale is that SuperBahis.com will be run in the
same way as it is currently operated.
The Chief Executive Officer of Sportingbet sportsbetting, Andrew McIver spoke
about the future of the company after the sale of the Turkish site.
"Following this disposal, Sportingbet will derive the large majority of its
earnings from regulated territories.
"The proceeds from the sale of this unregulated income stream will be used to
drive forward the rest of the group," said McIver. "We have clearly shown our
strategic intent and look to the future with confidence. The group's future is
underpinned by the quality of our best in class global sportsbook and
diversified business model."
Turkish Site Hampered Ladbrokes Deal
It is strongly believed that the fact that the online sportsbetting group,
Sportingbet's Turkish interests was an obstacle in the company's merger talks
with UK gambling giant, Ladbrokes.
Despite the fact that the talks ran for several months, it was recently
announced that nothing came out of them. Analysts say that Ladbrokes was
fearful about entering into an agreement with a company that was operating in an
unregulated market.
McIver's announcement that Sportingbet would move forward mainly into
regulated territories boosts confidence among investors and may indicate the
group's greater value in future merger deals.
Sportingbet sportsbook recently bought Danbook Ltd and Scandic Bookmakers
Ltd, two Danish online bookmakers for around £8.5 million.
This is part of Sportingbet's plan to increase its activities in regulated
markets to 70%.
An analyst with Peel Hunt, Nick Batram told Reuters: "The planned disposal of
Turkey is a logical move and the potential price is better than we had
expected."
Sportingbet's departure from the Turkish market was too late to save the
talks between the group and Ladbrokes gambling company.
