Remaining Australian JV interests of Betfair sold

Australian land gambling giant Crown Resorts has acquired full ownership of Betfair Australasia, a joint venture with British online betting exchange Betfair formed in 2004.

Crown purchased Betfair’s 50 percent interest in the venture this week for A$10 million.

Under the terms of the sale, Betfair will continue to provide technology and support services to the business, which generated a net loss in 2014 of A$1.8 million, according to the latest Crown numbers.

Betfair presented the sale as a switch to a business-to-business strategy, saying in a separate statement:

“Betfair has concurrently entered into an agreement with Crown to continue to provide its betting exchange in Australasia under a B2B model and will receive a share of revenues generated by the exchange in those markets. Under the agreement, customers of Betfair and Crown will continue to benefit from pooled liquidity arrangements.”

Commenting on the deal, Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran said:

“We are pleased to have signed a long term agreement that facilitates Betfair’s continued participation in the fast growing, licensed Australian market alongside a partner with a strong local presence. This represents an extension of Betfair’s B2B operations and is a new and profitable operating model for the exchange.”

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