Speaking publicly about its bid for the first time on Monday,Entain Australia’s chief executive Dean Shannon said Tabcorp should accept its $3.5 billion bid for the TAB bookmaking and media business or risk losing more ground to online competitors if it opts for a demerger.
“That’s going to take some time to play out,Tabcorp is losing market share - what’s it going to be worth by the time we get to a demerger?” said Mr Shannon,who runs the Ladbrokes and Neds betting brands locally.
“Our offer gives Tabcorp shareholders certainly. We’re in this position where we could possibly buy Tabcorp wagering and media because the shareholders are sick of listening to promises and not having them delivered.”
Several major investors and analysts believe a demerger is the most likely outcome because state racing bodies - and in Entain’s case the competition regulator - will need to sign off on a sale to another party.
But Mr Shannon said he was confident a sale could be finalised just as quickly as a spin-off,in less than 12 months. He said the £9.7 billion ($17.8 billion) London-listed Entain was best placed to invest in the local racing industry,which gets the bulk of its funding through partnerships with TAB.
“They all know how supportive I’ve been of racing for the last eight or nine years,” he said.
In a further shake-up to the betting industry,The Age andSydney Morning Heraldrevealed on Monday that News Corp Australia was in advanced talks with a consortium linked to Mr Tripp to launch Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox Bet wagering outfit locally.