PointsBet has rejected an AU$220m (US$153.2m) offer for its Australian division from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and digital wagering pioneer Matthew Tripp.
As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the bookmaker’s board – led by former UBS banker Brett Paton – turned down a non-binding indicative offer from the News Corp Australia-led consortium around two weeks ago, with the offer not put to shareholders.
This is what sources in the betting industry said, speaking anonymously because of the confidentiality of the talks.
Murdoch and his son Lachlan manage a multibillion dollar global media empire. This includes Fox News Channel USA, Foxtel Australia’s pay-TV company, and several local and international newspapers, such as The Australian.
However, the family still has some wagering capabilities through their ownership of Racenet Racing Sites and Punters.com. They formalised a partnership with Tripp – who grew Sportsbet into Australia’s second-largest bookmaker and established BetEasy before selling it to Canadian company The Stars Group – earlier this year.
News Corp still expects to launch an online betting business sometime in 2022. The company has appointed Andrew Menz (ex-BetEasy) as its Chief Executive.
PointsBet’s rejection will not affect the launch of the company nor its bookmaking license, but it would have provided the business with scale and meant that the business won’t have large customers upon launch.
PointsBet Canada has announced this week that it will be partnering with ClubLink to provide new services for golf club owners and operators, after its April entry in the Ontario sporting betting market.
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