Betstar has approximately 40,000 registered customers and generated gross win of us$ 12 million in us$ 199.3 million amounts staked during the year to March 31, 2014. The Betstar brand will be maintained under the terms of the deal.
The acquisition is the latest attempt by Ladbrokes to strengthen its Australian business, following the purchase last year of Bookmaker.com.au and the launch of Ladbrokes.au in the country, as reported by iGaming Business.
Damian Cope, managing director of Ladbrokes International, said: “Australia represents one of the most vibrant regulated sports betting markets in the world and today’s announcement will see us add new customers to our growing presence. “It offers us a chance to improve our market share and bring the innovative product development and marketing skills displayed by Ladbrokes.com.au to a wider audience."
Acquiring Betstar, which is run by Alan Eskander, who founded the business with his bookmaker father Michael in 2007, means that Ladbrokes will have a five per cent share of the us$ 12.1 billion Australian online betting market.