The Takeovers Continue

Ever since the United States passed a law that bans online gambling in the country, gambling companies have been making business moves to recover the lost income and capitalize on new markets. A major aspect of the response was takeovers, deals that have one Internet gambling company merge with another. Often the case was that the online casinos that are sides to the takeover agreements were from different countries, with a hold on different markets. This weeks news show that this is still ongoing and the business world has not quieted down in this sense. One of the biggest takeovers is being talked about.

The Austrian operator Bwin, the market value of which is an amazing $1.25 billion, said in a statement that it is holding talks with a British company, currently its rival, Sportingbet. The statement made it clear that the discussions have not yet led to a deal. Bwin is said to have approached its rival site, not yet making an offer.

One executive from the Austrian company said in response that his company has always said we're monitoring the market... We will continue to do so in the future.

Such cross country takeovers open up the European market to takeovers, mergers and joint operations. Will the policy practiced by the European countries, such as the UK and Austria, allow for such momentous and industry reshaping online casino moves? It is well known that, for now, European countries would like to establish state run companies, monopolies in fact, and capitalize on the market. When Bwin (over a billion dollar market value) and Sportingbet (half a billion dollars) join, it certainly threatens this monopoly. At this point in time, it seems that the court is willing to allow such moves.