SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Irish bookmaker BoyleSports has confirmed that it has acquired ‘almost all’ of the HughesBet retail estate from Northern Irish bookmaker Gregory Hughes.
As part of the acquisition, BoyleSports will take over six of the seven shops in the HughesBet chain of stores, all of which will be rebranded as BoyleSports outlets.
Conor Gray, chief executive of BoyleSports stated: “Since BoyleSports founder and chairman John Boyle opened his first shop at Markethill, Armagh in 1982, it has been our ambition to develop a meaningful retail presence in Northern Ireland.
“The purchase of the HughesBet chain of shops demonstrates our long-term commitment to the Northern Ireland market.”
All stores that have been acquired will also be upgraded in line with the operator’s business model.
The latest acquisition follows on from an agreement earlier this year to take over William Hill’s entire Northern Irish retail estate, having purchased a chain of 33 shops, and brings the total number of BoyleSports retail outlets in Northern Ireland to 45.
During 2019, BoyleSports launched the initial phase of its UK expansion project by acquiring the small network of Midlands independent bookmaker Wilf Gilbert, establishing the Dundalk operator’s ‘Northern presence’.
