Analysts at Numis Securities said in a research note that if Ladbrokes fails to acquire 888.com, the UK bookmaker could return about £663m to its shareholders over the next three years. Reuters also reported that Ladbrokes is likely to announce its plan to run Britain\’s first Las Vegas-style supercasino when it unveils its 2006 results this week.
In other news, BSkyB has launched Sky Poker, a new multi-platform interactive product available to players both online and on television.
According to the Sunday Times, the UK Government has raised concerns about the level of debt to be taken on by a racing consortium trying to buy the state-owned Tote bookmaker. A large part of the £350m debt will be provided by Lloyds TSB as a “payment in kind” note, a form of debt which carries a 28% interest charge.
Elsewhere, Firepay has extended its ban on US online gambling transactions to Canadian customers, while former New York Senator Alfonse D\’Amato is to take a role as Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance to lobby on behalf of the online poker industry for a poker exemption to the UIGE Act of 2006.
Swedish state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel said it would invest over 15 million euros over the next five years in setting up internet-based lotteries in the Baltics.
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