Betting Wars

Last year betting firm Ladbrokes invested funds in a new e-commerce and digital division after making a two-part deal with Israeli software firm Playtech. Their aim was to reinvigorate the company’s online presence.

Ladbrokes took advantage of Playtech’s software in order to increase their revenues across the web, with the second part of the deal seeing the company launch a new suite of casino-like games through a tab on their website labelled “Vegas”. There was also be the possibility for third parties to launch services on the company’s website as part of the deal.

The CEO of Ladbrokes, Richard Glynn, said: “Ladbrokes has made significant progress over the past two years by investing in our core technology, revitalising our brand and making our customer offer more competitive. The next phase of this reinvigoration will see us work closely with Playtech to increase customer lifetime values through enhanced CRM.” The betting firm’s emphasis has always previously been focused on the mobile market, with Andy Lettings, head of new channels, noting that Ladbrokes were a “mobile first” company, and highlighting how important iPhone users were to the firm. He also revealed plans to launch a bespoke app for the iPad at some point in the near future.

However, competitor William Hill, owned a 29% stake in Playtech, and apparently tried to stop the partnership by buying the software firm out of the deal. Betting is notoriously competitive and this is an interesting example of some really aggressive tactics with a large company using a strategic shareholding in a supplier to try to block a competitors strategy.