Taking a Look at Some Changes with William Hill and Ladbrokes in Australia

Added: September 6, 2013

There really have been some major happenings in the Australian online gambling market, as two massive online casino operators have made strategic moves, they will have serious ramifications for Australian online gambling fans. William Hill and Ladbrokes, two of the largest online casino operators in the world, have made some huge changes to the way they will be doing business in Australia in the future.

A short while ago we reported on the acquisition of Australian online gambling site and sports book operator Tom Waterhouse being acquired by William Hill. We have now heard that William Hill is intending to consolidate its position in the Australian online gambling market by closing down two of its popular international online casino brands in Australia. William Hill will be withdrawing Sportingbet and Centrebet from the Australian market, and moving all of its online casino activities across to the William Hill brand, and this includes Tom Waterhouse.

Ladbrokes, the internet gambling giant, has just acquired Gaming Investments Pty Ltd, a successful Australian online gambling brand. Ladbrokes is paying an initial $22.5 million for the company, and then a further $13 million after a 3 year period.

Richard Glynn, the Chief Executive Officer of Ladbrokes, has commented on the purchase of Gaming Investments Pty Ltd by saying that, "The acquisition of this fast growing business represents an excellent opportunity for Ladbrokes to establish a strong presence in Australia, in line with our strategy to extend geographic reach to key regulated markets. At launch Ladbrokes Australia will have a highly experienced management team who are strongly incentivised to achieve further customer and revenue growth over the coming years."

The interesting thing about both of these moves is that the up and coming Australian election could significantly change the way that online gambling is legislated in Australia. If the wrong party wins the election, we already know that online gambling will be made almost entirely illegal in Australia. We are willing to bet that both Ladbrokes and William Hill are relying upon their reputations in the industry, as well as their power, to ensure that they become two of the only online gambling operators to be licensed in Australia should this eventually come to be. Of course, if the other party wins the election, its business as usual for both William Hill and Ladbrokes, so they really can’t lose either way. Smart business from two online gambling giants.