Ladbrokes quits Italian gambling market

Ladbrokes has decided to cut its losses in the Italian gambling market by selling up. It has sold all of its betting shops in the country at a loss. They have been sold to an affiliate of Cogetech for the paltry sum of €5.25 million, which Ladbrokes has obviously decided was worth it to get out of the difficult market.

The move was announced as far back as August 2009, and is due to increased competition and the high investment needed, amongst other factors. Essentially, it simply wasn’t worth continuing operations in Italy. Back in December 2009, the business was valued at €30.3 million, so to sell it now for just €5.25 shows how keen Ladbrokes was to get rid of it. It follows on from William Hill who left the same Italian market back in 2008.

Richard Glynn, who was appointed at Ladbrokes in March, has made it clear that he wants to focus more on the online gambling division of the company, which he sees as a far more lucrative option with better potential.

At the same time that it pulls out of the Italian gambling market, Ladbrokes has also announced its entry to the newly regulated French online gambling market where it will offer online gambling services for French players. This is a joint venture with Canal+, and will see Ladbrokes get access to 12.5 million subscribers.

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