Ladbrokes in discussions for supplier deal with Betdaq

Ladbrokes are in talks with Betdaq’s owner Dermot Desmond over a deal which would see the operator buy in the betting exchange’s pricing and trading solutions.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the funds for any potential deal will come from the £50m set aside for investment in technology to revitalise Ladbrokes’ online business.

Betdaq was founded in 2000 by Desmond, also the majority shareholder of Scottish football club Celtic, who holds a 2% stake in Ladbrokes.

This is the latest in a series of possibilities explored by CEO Richard Glynn (pictured) as he seeks to improve the company’s egaming revenues. Proposed acquisitions of 888 and Sportingbet collapsed in April and October 2011 respectively. After the termination of talks with Sportingbet, Glynn claimed that the group were focused on an “organic strategy” for the revitalisation of the business. This strategy includes renegotiating its existing supplier deals, as announced by Glynn in February last year.

In February also William Hill took out an injunction against its joint venture partner Playtech following rumours of merger talks between Ladbrokes and the software provider, forcing the company to look elsewhere for new technology.

A spokesman for Ladbrokes confirmed the talks, but warned that discussions are in an early phase, making it impossible to determine how much the deal may be worth: “Our key priorities are technology and improving our current systems. We are looking at various options to increase our capabilities, but nothing is concrete just yet.”