Poll: Will Unibet's Stan James gamble pay off?

Unibet’s acquisition of Stan James’ online business for £19m last week brought to an end one of the longest running M&A sagas of recent years.

Speculation surrounding the future of Stan James had been rife ever since the Gibraltar-based operator announced what was turned out to be the first of two redundancy rounds in May last year.

Stan James is believed to have spoken to a number of potential suitors before striking a deal with Unibet, while it is also understood many were deterred by what they felt was an inflated asking price.

However, Unibet decided to take the plunge with its chief executive Henrik Tjärnström last week describing the Stan James business as one he had long admired.

The deal will undoubtedly add some much needed scale to Unibet’s UK-facing operation, particularly if it is to achieve its aim of becoming a top five UK player.

However, the firm has yet to make any long-term decision about whether to continue with the Stan James brand, which it has recognised as being stronger than its own in the market, or whether to integrate the operator onto its Kambi-powered sportsbook platform.

The firm has also decided to keep the Stan James management team in place, for now at least, as it mulls how it can best leverage the sportsbook and realise the greatest synergies.

With this in mind, this week’s eGaming Review poll asks whether Unibet’s acquisition of Stan James was a good bit of business or whether it paid over-the-odds for a brand which many others took a look at but decided against.

Have your say on the right-hand-side of the page.