Retail

Following this May’s outright UK General Election win by the Conservative Party, UK political debate and commentary has shifted to the nation’s referendum on European Union (EU) membership. Since gaining his re-election Prime Minister David Cameron has made the EU referendum top of the Conservative agenda. The referendum was a key objective of the Conservatives 2015 General Election campaign, however …

Australian gambling operator  Tabcorp has won a $128.9 million (£64 million) tax benefit resulting from a payment it made to the Victorian government more than two decades ago. The operator has contested tax charges of a combined value of $1.2 billion in compensation for the past two decades, relating to revenues generated by poker (‘pokie’) machines. Last Friday the Australian …

French sports betting operator and supplier France Pari has had its licence in the country extended for another five years. France Pari was among the first companies to get a licence in June 2010 when the French iGambling market opened and those licences had an initial term of five years. Last week France Pari became one of the first companies …

Irish independent bookmaker Boylesports is lining up to buy Ladbrokes loss making Irish retail division. The division is currently under Irish High Court protection, following Ladbrokes appointment of examiner Deloitte in April. Having recorded 2014 division losses of €5 million, Ladbrokes Ireland operations are currently being re-structured, with the operator outlining the closure of 60 of its 196 Irish betting …

Lawrence Ho Yau Lung’s  gambling investment firm Summit Ascent Holdings, has confirmed that its Russian casino complex has entered the final stage of construction, as the firm targets its opening on 28 August. The complex was due to open in April of this year, however Summit Ascent managment had pushed back the date due to encountering unexpected challenges. Summit Ascent alerted …

The Zimbabwe government has stopped its processing of gambling/betting licenses amid fears of a surge in the nations gambling addiction. Its drastic actions regarding betting licensing have been granted approval by President Robert Mugabe and the Department of Home Affairs. Throughout 2014 and 2015 Zimbabwe ministers have demonstrated concerns regarding the number of new and existing bookmakers targeting the country’s …

Rank Group Plc governance has stated that it is confident that the company will hit 2015 performance targets having recorded a strong opening 20 week period for 2015.Rank Group announced that like-for-like revenue for the 20 weeks to 17 May 2015 has grown by 5%, with total revenue up 4%. Its Grosvenor Casino (retail) operations had recorded a 5% rise …

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and Arena Racing Company (ARC) have announced that both racecourse groups intend to create a single production centre to benefit the horseracing and betting industries.The new joint venture will provide pictures and data for organisations, who wish to broadcast coverage of British racing. The joint venture will ensure costs of production can be shared and efficiencies …

Intralot Group Chairman Socrates Kokkalis is preparing to spearhead the creation of the Greek National Lottery. Intralot confirmed that Kokkalis had submitted a business proposal to the Hellenic Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis. Addressing the Intralot Group Annual General Meeting (AGM) Kokkalis has outlined that the Greek National Lottery should be owned by the State but operated by a private …

Having begun 2015 in a positive light with the backing of a House of Commons, numerous senators and the Police authorities, Canada’s Single Sports Betting Bill C290 appears to have stalled once again in its progress into national law. Bill C290 which looks to allow licensed gambling premises/enterprises to take bets on approved sporting events permitted by Canadian regulators, was intended to …