On the implementation of the UK point-of-consumption tax (POCT), which forced all online operator in the UK, regardless of where they are based, to pay a 15% tax on remote gaming net revenue, it was inevitable that mergers would begin to take place at a faster rate between companies looking to lighten this tax burden.PaddyPower Betfair was one of the first, and this merger has proven very successful, Ladbrokes and Coral’s consolidation is close to completion, so one can assume that more will come in the coming months, but who is likely to be merging?
Amaya and PartyGaming
This was spoken about, although it took something of a backseat due to CEO David Baazov leaving his position indefinitely after charges related to insider trading.The first planned merger, which involved Amaya and GVC purchasing BWinParty together, fell through on Amaya’s side due to time needed to clear debts, so GVC went ahead alone.However, GVC CEO Kenny Alexander has made it clear that “There’s no reason why we can’t do another deal with Amaya down the line.”
William Hill
There are two possible mergers that are very much on the cards for William Hill. Former CEO Henry Birch left William Hill to become chief executive of Rank Group, a similar thing happened with Breon Corcoran leaving Paddy Power for Betfair, he later oversaw the merger between the two companies, could Birch be planning the same?William Hill almost merged with 888 recently, but a disagreement over the value of 888 caused this deal to fall through. However, there was clearly a lot of interest from both parties, and with the burden of POCT weighing heavy on both 888 and William Hill, another attempt may not be far away.