European companies Betfair and Paddy Power ready to become “power couple”

It has been announced on Wednesday that the England-based Betfair and Ireland company Paddy Power are now ready to be called Paddy Power Betfair. With the news of the merger of the two giants of online gaming sphere, the rivals expect the level of competition to extend to a higher zone so far as betting and gaming business is concerned.

The combination of the two brands is expected to stretch the revenue to approximately £1.1 billion (AU$2.4 billion). “Discussions remain ongoing regarding the other terms of the possible merger,” a statement on Wednesday said.

The shareholders of the Dublin-based company will have 52 percent ownership in the company, while Betfair investors will have 48 percent shares. This is just an estimate yet to be finalised in the coming weeks. The importance of the combination can be predicted from the value it would hold in the market, which is around £5.8 billion (AU$12.6 billion).

CFO Alex Gersh and CEO Breon Corcoran of Betfair will remain in the new company, while the Chairman of Paddy Power Gary McGann will be responsible for keeping a watch on the activities undertaken by the company. Also, Paddy Power Chief Executive Andy McCue will hold the position of COO.

Corcoran is not new to Paddy Power. He has already served as the chief operating officer for two years prior to joining Betfair three years ago. The merger will work with both the brands in Europe and would maintain itself on the stock market listing in Dublin and London.

Nick Batram of Peel Hunt addressed the combo as a “power couple.” He said that the deal “is about two of the gaming industry’s strongest players ... getting together to create something of even greater scale and depth.”

“The sheer scale and capabilities of the group would mean that we’d be best-placed to compete internationally,” McCue said.

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