This Month
Billionaires Escalante and Arnaout taking liberties with ASIC
The Perth entrepreneur’s attempt to wrestle back total control of VGW should have been a bit more obvious were its disclosures made in time.
One of the richest casino billionaires is camping out in Sydney
Martin Moshal is a hard man to track down. But documents show the Sydneysider is connected to an enormous investment portfolio around the world.
BetMakers launches capital raise to fund Nevada acquisition
The wagering technology group will seek to raise the funds at a 10¢ fixed price – a tight 4.8 per cent discount to its last traded price.
Japan’s Mixi hikes PointsBet takeover bid, valuing bookmaker at $402m
The entertainment giant’s hopes of acquiring the ASX-listed group had been complicated by a rival proposal from Matthew Tripp’s Betr, which holds 20 per cent.
Escalante to buy out investors in his $3.2b online gambling giant
Billionaire Laurence Escalante already controls 70 per cent of Virtual Gaming Worlds, and last month told unhappy shareholders they should just sell out of the company.
May
Tabcorp goes to war with pubs, wants to stop paying them fees
The betting giant has proposed the most significant change to its arrangement with hotels in decades, and wants to stop paying fees in exchange for upgrades.
Gil McLachlan needs a strong defensive game on live sport betting
Tabcorp now has a risk-taker in charge, which excites the market, even though caution is required.
‘Grave social evil’: Howard urges government to crack down on pokies
The former prime minister is calling for regulatory reform following an investigation into the distribution and ownership of poker machines in Alice Springs.
Gambling billionaire Escalante in expletive-ridden rant to investors
Perth gambling billionaire Laurence Escalante has told investors to sell their shares in his gaming business Virtual Gaming Worlds if they don’t trust him.
Tabcorp to bring live sports betting into pubs and clubs
Its Australia-first trial of in-play betting in pubs and clubs aims to get more out of its expensive retail license agreements.
The stage of life Australians can’t afford to ignore
Kate Carnell says federal funds for end-of-life planning would reduce costly hospitalisations and prevent unnecessary suffering.
April
Matt Tripp’s Betr buys 20pc of PointsBet in takeover war
The purchase is the latest move in the fight over the future of online bookmaker PointsBet.
Favourites jostle in multimillion-dollar papal betting market
Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has a 26 per cent chance of becoming the next pope, according to prediction markets.
Why cashing out won’t be easy for Australia’s gambling billionaires
Adrian Portelli, Laurence Escalante and Ed Craven could all face big problems if they try to sell their companies or go public.
Has Bally’s met its match in an impossible Star turnaround task?
The American giant has turned around plenty of casinos in the past. Now it is turning its attention to tackling its most daunting challenge yet.
Portelli hits fast lane on mooted LMCT+ sale, MacCap takes the wheel
Several conversations around how a change of control could play out and the steps needed to make LMCT+ sale-ready had taken place since the end of last year.
Laurence Escalante gets real deep on Instagram bender
From Below Deck to righteously correcting injustice to philosophy, the Rich Lister’s recent social media rant covered it all.
PointsBet at odds with rival bookie BlueBet over takeover funding
The company is trying to sell its business to Japanese entertainment giant Mixi, but that has been complicated by a competing bid from BlueBet.
Bookmaker behind Ladbrokes turned blind eye to drug money laundering
Over 640 pages, Austrac accuses the UK bookmaking giant of failing to catch “large amounts of money being regularly moved”.
March
Austrac accuses Entain of allowing suspected criminals to launder cash
The British bookmaker behind Ladbrokes and Neds allegedly allowed more than a dozen high-risk customers to funnel money through its accounts despite the risks.