Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)

Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)
By Louisa Nesbitt
(Bloomberg) -- Paddy Power Plc, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, recently bought 51 percent of Sportsbet Pty Ltd. to expand into Australia’s gambling market.
Paddy Power will pay an initial 48.5 million Australian dollars ($36.8 million) for the stake, payable in cash and the issue of 100,000 shares, the Dublin-based company said today in a statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
Paddy Power is expanding abroad as weakening economies in Ireland and the U.K. affect wagers placed in betting shops. Growth in the amounts staked at Paddy Power’s sports-betting unit accelerated “significantly” this fiscal year, partly due to the expansion of the online business outside Ireland, according to a separate statement.
“The board is satisfied with progress and momentum in the year to date and remains comfortable with the consensus market forecast for 2009 for its existing businesses, subject as ever to the volatility that could arise from sporting results,” Chairman Nigel Northridge said in the statement.
Paddy Power rose 73 cents, or 4.8 percent, to 15.99 euros in Dublin. The stock has advanced 19 percent this year, giving it a market value of 760.6 million euros ($1.04 billion).
The amount staked at Paddy Power’s sports betting business rose 1 percent at betting shops and 31 percent at its internet and telephone division, excluding currency swings, in the 19 weeks to May 12, the statement shows.
The Sportsbet acquisition will see Paddy Power enter a market similar to the U.K. and Ireland, with the same language and similar regulatory environment, Finance Director Jack Massey said in a telephone interview.
“We certainly have other things in the development pipeline we are working on,” Massey said.



Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)