Paddy Power Sportsbook Acquires McGranaghan Racing

Thursday May 29, 2008

McGranaghan Racing, a Northern Ireland-based bookmaker in charge of 8 shops, has been acquired by the gaming giant Paddy Power for ￡19 million.

This move is going to push break Paddy Power Sportsbook into the Northern Irish market. Most of the former McGranaghan Racing betting shops are located in and around Belfast.

Here is what Paddy Power Plc's chief executive Patrick Kennedy said about the news: "McGranaghan's has a similar business model to our own, employing a very competitive offering to drive very high shop turnover and profitability. Acquisition is the necessary route into this interesting market and McGranaghan's is an ideal entry point for Paddy Power."

On the global arena, many other operators are getting their hands into various promising European markets, following the downturn in UK market in recent year. William Hill PLC, for instance has shown its presence in Spanish market after the joint venture with Codere took place. They have just announced opening four betting centres in Madrid.

Net Entertainment has also shown its face on bertil.com with the new range of its casino products. Apparently the deal between the companies was agreed on in February this year, but has been kept secret due to the bingo firm's Bertil's request.