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Both Richards and Ahlberg state this acquisition doesn’t reflect a turnaround story for 888Africa, with a management team led by industry veteran Christopher Coyne and a footprint in some of the continent’s fastest-growing markets.
“It has real market positions already, including a market-leading position in Mozambique and a growing presence in Angola and Tanzania, so we are buying established local relevance rather than starting from zero,” Richards continues.
“That combination of proven profitability, established market share and continuity of management materially reduces the execution risk you would normally associate with re-entering a consumer-facing business.”
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Ahead of the government’s Autumn Budget in October, Entain CEO Stella David cautioned that doubling the current MGD rate to 40% could result in widespread closures of betting shops and significant job losses, while potentially reducing tax revenues for the government.
A potential MGD rise was first reported in the The Financial Times, as Chancellor John Healey is allegedly looking to raise the tax, on the recommendation of the Social Market Foundation, which proposed the increase in a recent report.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham had already announced the government’s intention to scrap “aim to permit” for betting shops as well as insisting that AGCs will now need planning permission to function.
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Lottomatica CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi described its merger with Cirsa as a “low-risk proposition”, during an investor call detailing the deal on Wednesday.
The Wednesday announcement promised the merger of the two listed gaming giants would create the second-largest listed global gaming and sports betting operator, with a pro forma adjusted EBITDA of approximately €2 billion ($2.3 billion).
Angelozzi, who is set to lead the combined company as CEO, told analysts on the post-announcement call that the deal was expected to be a “low-risk proposition” given the consistent growth demonstrated by both Lottomatica and Cirsa in recent years.
