The UK betting group paid EUR 1.3 million for a 51 per cent stake in a joint venture with Pianeta Scommesse, a government-accredited provider of betting shop services to the Italian market. Ladbrokes Chief Executive Chris Bell revealed a plan to invest EUR 100 milliom to develop retail, internet and telephone betting propositions in Italy over the next five years, as the government\’s new licensing and taxation regime is introduced.
Under Italian law all bookmakers must process their bets through a provider that is connected to a government database, enabling the tracking of bets for tax purposes. Providers also supply odds and liability management services to bookmakers. Currently there are around 770 licensed betting shops in Italy serving a population of a similar size to the UK where there are over 8,000 betting shops. Recently the government has allowed slot machines in betting shops and has begun to reduce the rate of tax for sports bets.
Under proposals within the new \’Bersani Decree\’ the Italian Government is set to further reform the market and expand the number of sports betting licences to 7,000 new outlets, 2,100 of which will be dedicated shops. There will also be an additional 10,000 licences for horseracing outlets, 500 of which will be dedicated shops. Taxation of sports bets will also be reduced from 17% to between 2 and 8%, depending on turnover. The government is expected to publish more detail on the tender process for the new licencss later this year. Despite the relatively small number of betting shops available the legal Italian sports betting market for 2005 was worth EUR 1.49 billion and the horseracing betting market EUR 2.2 billion. The total gaming market in Italy is worth EUR 28 billion.
Bell commented: “The facts speak for themselves. Italy and Britain have similar populations, but in the UK there are 8,600 betting shops while in Italy there are just 800. We all know the Italians like a bet so there is a huge opportunity there.”
Roberto Righetti, Chairman of Pianeta Scommesse, added: “Ladbrokes is the perfect partner for us. With recent [Italian] government changes in taxation and proposed changes in licensing, now is a good time for a global player such as Ladbrokes to invest in the Italian market.”
In addition, Ladbrokes continued to expand its presence in China, with 50 new sports lottery betting shops in the province of Tianjin, while in Vietnam the company has been shortlisted to run a soccer betting lottery and in Turkey it has formed a consortium with Intralot to bid for the national lottery.
Back in the UK, private equity firms CVC Capital, Apax Partners, Candover and Permira are competing to acquire Sisal, the Italian state lottery concessionaire for popular games such as Superenalotto, Totocalcio, Totip, Tris and Totogol. Sisal, which also operates the sports betting provider Match-Point, is estimated to be worth about EUR 1 billion.
Calculators
