15-01-2007 Ladbrokes preparing a new £440 million takeover bid for 888 Holdings

According to British press reports, the UK betting group is working on a plan to buy the online casino's assets, such as the intellectual property, customers and website, keeping 888 Holdings as an independent company. This strategy would insulate Ladbrokes from the risks of legal action related to the US anti-gambling legislation.

In other news, Bloomberg reported that industry analysts believe that once completed the 888 deal will remove the threat of a leveraged buyout on Ladbrokes, as private equity firms would have trouble financing a takeover of the enlarged gambling group.

Betex said it expected full-year gross profits to be slightly below the market expectations as a result of the company incorrectly pricing new products in November of last year. The company also said the UK businesses have shown a significant improvement over the second half of 2006, generating higher than expected margins from lower turnover.

Juniper Research said the global mobile gambling market is set to reach $16.6 billion by 2011 in terms of gross value of bets placed. Asia will be the dominant market with $6.7 billion.

BBC News revealed that online gambling at work costs firms in England more than £300m each year in lost productivity. The National Lottery is the most popular form of betting, followed by betting on football, betting on horses and online poker games.