Irish betting company Paddy Power looks certain to strengthen its position in the Australian gaming market, after it launched a $40 million bid to buy local bookmaker International All Sports, which is majority owned by legendary bookie Mark Read.
Last month, Paddy Power announced it had bought a 50% stake in another Australian betting company, Sportsbet (valuing the deal at $113 million) as part of its move in the Australian market.
The latest 60c-a-share bid for IAS looks almost certain to succeed. Read, who owns 19% of the company, has backed it and Paddy Power already owns 19.98% courtesy of its takeover of Sportsbet, which invested in IAS earlier this year.
Read stands to receive over $11 million if the deal is successful. He has been trying to sell IAS for more than 12 months.
IAS chairman Barry Coulter said the deal had been recommended by directors in the absence of a superior offer.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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