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The merger of Ladbrokes and Coral has been granted final approval by the UK Competition & Markets Authority (“CMA”), closing the £2.27 billion deal which has taken 18 months to complete (first announced June 2015). Completing its final review of Ladbrokes-Coral merger process, the authority has approved the operators sale of 359 betting shops to Betfred (322 estates) and Stan …

Lee Richardson Chief Executive of Gaming Economics details opinion and context on the recent government announcement of an industry review of FOBTs and advertising standards… _________________________ Just as autumn arrives, the UK government has this week launched its long-awaited review of gambling, which includes an investigation of gambling machines (including Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT)) and advertising. Gaming Economics has …

SBC has decided to extend the nomination deadline for the SBC Awards 2016 by another week. Companies now have until Tuesday 1st November to put themselves forward for one or more of the 15 awards created by SBC to recognise industry excellence in 2016. This means the nomination stage for the SBC Awards 2016 will get a ‘Halloween night’ finale. …

Tom Zanelli Panbet Ltd’s Video Content Manager details to SBC readers the success and coverage of his firm’s ‘Non-League Challenge’  for its Marathonbet brand. Placing content and storytelling at the heart of its ‘Non-League Challenge’  campaign and promotion, Marathonbet aimed to engage with a dedicated fanbase that  other bookmakers’ had neglected. Zanelli a key stakeholder in the campaign’s creation details …

The Man Booker Prize is one of Western literature’s most coveted. This year the winner is being announced on Monday October 24th. The stipulations of the award are that the book must be fictional, penned in English and published in the UK. It’s been running since 1969 and the winner these days gets a sizable £50,000 cheque.  Ion Tewin, Literary …

Nigerian bookmaker Nairabet has just signed a long-term deal with betting systems supplier OPTIMA to power its bookmaking operations. CEO Akin Alabi and OPTIMA CEO Jacob Lopez Curciel took time out to answer some questions about the deal. _____________________ SBC: How are Nairabet and OPTIMA working together? What is the extent of your partnership? Akin Alabi: OPTIMA will be powering …

SBC will crown the inaugural Rising Star in Sports Betting at the SBC Awards 2016, which will be held on December 7 at Under the Bridge nightclub. This prestigious award has been created to recognise the most prolific emerging operator or affiliate in the sports betting industry. Andy McCarron, Managing Director at SBC, said: “We are particularly excited about crowning the …

The Gordon Moody Association is a charity which helps problem gamblers. It recently launched the Gambling Therapy app, a free multi-lingual advice service to further help those in need of such support.  Pedro Romero is the Head of Gambling Therapy. Romero spoke at the World Regulatory Briefing in London back in September about the forthcoming app aimed at preventing and …

The £5 billion merger between FTSE-listed William Hill Plc and Toronto TSX Amaya Inc has been abandoned. This morning both William Hill and Amaya governances’ updated investors declaring that the companies had withdrawn from merger talks. Issuing a corporate statement, William Hill detailed that it received ‘canvassing views from a number of major shareholders’. Last week London hedge fund Parvus, …

The industry’s relationship with new technology and its impact on consumer trends and behaviour will be a key point of discussion at this week’s EIG 2016 Conference (Arena Berlin 18-20 October). Amitabh Ghatak former William Hill  Head of Product Development details to SBC how operators and industry stakeholders should assess and value new technologies entering the industry’s value chain. __________________________ …