If the £10 billion Flutter Entertainment and The Stars Group merger is to secure regulatory approval, Flutter may be forced to sell its brands, including flagship Paddy Power.

Analysts at financial services firm Canaccord Genuity have said that, in order to secure approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), for the merger set to create the world’s biggest gambling group, Flutter may be forced to sell both retail and online brands.

If the merger goes ahead, it will leave Flutter investors with a 55% stake in the new mega group, but it may see the company have to make the “emotionally difficult decision” to let go of brands like Paddy Power, which is based in Dublin – the city where the new group plans to have its headquarters.

Its unlikely that The Stars Group will let go of its brands like BetStars and Sky Bet, due to their strong foothold in rapidly growing markets like US sports betting.

Assuming the merger goes ahead, the new group’s online betting revenue is likely to be 50% higher than British betting superpower bet365, and about 100% higher than GVC Holdings, owner of Ladbrokes, Coral and other iconic British betting brands.

AYO.NEWS says:

The fact that analysts think the new group will chose American sports over Paddy Power should speak volumes about where the big hitters see the future of the online gambling industry. If the merger goes ahead, the new group, even shorn of brands like Paddy Power, will be almost unimaginably powerful, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see other mergers follow as competitors attempt to marshal their forces.

It will be interesting to see who the potential buyers will be for Paddy Power too. 

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.