Press Release
FINANCIAL TIMES: UK bookmakers pick a winner in Italy
by John O'Doherty
The liberalisation of Italy's sizable gambling industry on Thursday counted British bookmakers Ladbrokes, William Hill and Gala Coral among its winners.
They were three of the companies, alongside Lottomatica of Italy and Intralot of Greece, granted new licences. The licences last until 2015 and will allow the companies to open dedicated betting centres as well as offer sports betting over the phone and internet.
William Hill and Ladbrokes are among the British companies that have shown an interest in obtaining licences in the Madrid region, which will fully liberalise its gaming market when new laws take effect next month. Other Spanish regions, including the Basque country and Navarre, are in the process of opening up their gambling markets.
Ladbrokes would not comment on how much it paid for the Italian licences but Gala Coral estimated it paid £30m for its licences. Approximately 16,000 licences in total were sold with the private equity-owned Gala Coral the biggest of the British beneficiaries with 403 licences won. Ladbrokes won 142 licences.
"When you compare us to what Ladbrokes and William Hill got, we're delighted," said Neil Goulden, chief executive of Gala Coral."
Christopher Bell, chief executive of Ladbrokes, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome of the tender, which represents a major step forward for us in Italy."
The new licences will allow Ladbrokes to open a total of 142 new outlets for horse-race betting and general sports betting. Coral's 403 new general sports betting centres will be added to the company's Eurobet locations already trading in Italy.
Italy's Lottomatica won 1,144 licences for sports betting and 500 licences for horse-racing betting.
"Our business model for Italy is one of franchisees," said Mr Goulden. "We have franchisees already lined up and they already have premises. The first new betting shops will be opened by Easter."
Ladbrokes already has three betting shops in Turin and estimates it can open many of the new shops within three months.
Ladbrokes has also won a licence to offer gambling online and over the telephone, but Gala Coral did not apply for an internet gambling licence because it was already operating the Eurobet.com website which takes bets from Italy.
Torbjörn Ihre of the European Betting Association said that the right to operate online gambling services was more important than locations on high-streets and in cafes.
"Italy represents one of the biggest European betting markets," he said. "For the future, the online market will be far more important because with one online position, you can cover all of Italy."
