Inspired Gaming, Paddy Power sign new four year deal
Inspired Gaming Group is set for a boost after updating its exclusive server-based gaming contract for another four years with Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker in the midst of an aggressive UK growth strategy.
INSPIRED GAMING Group and Paddy Power have extended their exclusive server-based gaming contract for another four years.
The extension of the deal, under which Inspired currently supplies Paddy Power’s 79 UK outlets with a total of 316 gaming machines, follows a three-year tie during which machine income for the bookmaker grew 81%.
Paddy Power is understood to have plans to double its UK estate, meaning that Inspired is likely to supply a far greater number of machines under the new contract.
As reported on EGRmagazine.com, the Irish bookmaker’s expansion strategy has also included the acquisition of a controlling stake in Australian sportsbook Sportsbet, which in turn today completed its acquisition of International All Sports Limited, paying AUD32m (19.3m, £17.9m) for the 80.02% of the shares it did not yet own.
The strategy saw Paddy Power retain its eighth place position in the eGaming Review Power 50 ranking of the industry’s leading operators despite half-year results showing operating profit down 26% on the same period in 2008, which chief executive Patrick Kennedy attributed to “a swing in the year-on-year run of sporting results [which is] a normal occupational hazard for bookmakers.”
Kennedy said that Paddy Power remained on track to meet its full-year profit target.
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