Betr set to be sold off amidst serious regulatory breaches
Australian bookmaker Betr, a gambling startup that received backing from News Corp, is reportedly on sale just a few months after its launch. This follows after the company was fined a record $210,000 by regulators last month for offering “hugely inflated returns” on bets.
In just a few months of operation, Liquor and Gaming NSW issued 14 infringement notices to Betr for offering inflated returns on bets on the Melbourne Cup, horse races, AFL, and NRL games. The company was also fined $75,000 by the Northern Territory Racing Commission for sending unsolicited and targeted messages to a man listed on a self-exclusion register.
The company, which launched last year with an aggressive marketing campaign, is now being approached by several potential buyers after discussions about acquiring rival PointsBet fell through.
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Betr had engaged Barrenjoey, a corporate advisory and financial services firm to handle strategic matters for the company, including negotiations with PointsBet. But, last week, PointsBet announced that the acquisition talks had been called off.
A Betr spokesperson said that the company had been approached by “a number of international and domestic operators seeking to acquire the business.”
Despite the recent struggles, Betr still aims to be a tier-one operator and remains ambitious. News Corp’s financial accounts for the last six months of 2022 showed losses of around $33m to affiliates, and some of which was attributed to Betr.
In recent months, News Corp has been distancing itself from Betr, and two of the company’s executives have quit Betr’s board. News Corp has not yet commented on the latest developments.
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