SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Addressing The Stars Group Inc investors, Group Chief Executive Rafi Ashkenazi has detailed his firm’s newly enlarged global gaming vision, having completed three industry-defining acquisitions in under two months.
As the global betting sector prepares for a crucial summer of football trading, Ashkenazi states that the Stars Group has acquired ‘the world’s best online sportsbook in Sky Bet’.
Combining Sky Bet synergies with its market-leading PokerStars platform, Ashkenazi details that an enlarged Star Group will now operate with ‘the world’s leading online gambling product mix’.
Completing a ‘pivotal period’ for the Stars Group’s future enterprise, Ashkenazi states that the firm’s new leadership vision will be to deliver the industry’s ‘most valuable listed online gambling company’.
“The businesses are complementary. These transactions offer our business significant, financial and operational benefits, which greatly increase our scale, cementing our position in many of the world’s leading regulated geographies”.
Moving forward with its $4.7 billion acquisition of Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G), the Stars Group emphasises technology as the best tool to achieve the fastest scale in evolving regulated marketplaces.
Combining PokerStars and Sky Bet technology competencies, Ashkenazi details that a new-look Stars Group will dominate industry innovation and product development within multiple gambling verticals.
Of particular note, Ashkenazi points to Sky Bet’s ‘best-in-class’ mobile product, which has achieved the highest level of player engagement within the saturated UK sportsbook market.
Beyond corporate synergies, Ashkenazi further details to investors that the combination will aim to develop organic ‘low cost’ acquisition channels, helping the firm reduce operational costs within its target markets.
‘Combining the world’s fastest growing sportsbook with the world’s largest poker product, we will gain the ability to leverage two large low-cost player acquisition channels’.
