The Stars group (TSG) has signed an agreement to complete its purchase of the Australian BetEasy online gambling provider according to a report published by Calvinayre.com
On Tuesday the TSG of Toronto announced that it had agreed to acquire the remaining 20 percent of BetEasy’s minority shareholders that TSG already owned no AU$151 million (US$ 103.3 million). TSG is paying an additional 100 million AU dollars to settle the payment performance obligations of TSG’s 2018 acquisition of Beteasy, and will repay AU $56.9 million worth of the loans of BetEasy minority shareholder.
TSG said that it anticipates that it will acquire a financial statement from either (a) TSG or (b) complete TSG proposed merger with the UK-listed Flutters Entertainment (former Paddy Power betfair) operator within 90 days of its FY2020 financial statements.
If this merger is successful, TSG warns that BetEasy’s proposed full-cash deal can be settled through cash, Flutter or a combination of the two. On Tuesday’s news, TSG holds shares relatively flat until mid-day, investors have been largely shrugging.
The Chairman of TSG Rafi Ashkenazi said he was happy to announce on Tuesday that he praised “the business spirit and vision” of BetEasy’s cousin Matthew Tripp. Tripp agreed to “supervise the transition in the capacity of non-Chairman,” the role that Tripp will play on January 1, 2020. Andrew Menz, who serving previously as BetEasy’s Strategy & Regulatory Affairs Manager, will take on Tripp’s former CEO position.
Beteasy’s path to total control of TSG is a microcosm that has struck the industry in recent years as part of the incestuous consolidation frenzy. Beteasy began to live as a Tripp project, which formerly founded Sportsbet (who he sold to Paddys Power Betfair), the Australian online betting operator.
In 2015, Tripp joined the casino operator from Aussie Crown Resorts and BetEasy was renamed Crownbet. The new brand, which Crownbet took over from William Hill Australia in August 2018, has struggled with many years to make its down-under operations profitable. It was reinstated by Crownbet in its BetEasy moniker in August 2018 after it had filed a legal challenge with CrownBet’s plan to rebuild SportingBet.
