Crowns, an Australian casino operator, is set to buy out the remaining 50% of Betfair’s Australian operations, which they already have 50% of. Betfair operates as a joint venture with Crowns Casino in Australia, but reports has it that Betfair is ready to sell out their shares, due to the Australian market not being as profitable as expected.
Chairman of Crowns Casino, James Packer, is very set on buying out Betfair’s remaining shares, as it would give the company full control over the Tasmanian gaming license which they obtained together. Furthermore Crowns Casino could change the way that Betfair did their business in Australia and perhaps become more successful by going into the fixed odds market.
Should Crowns Casino be successful in the buy-out, then they would have a favourable position in the market, since their former partner will completely leave the market and they will have one less large bookie and casino operator to worry about.