Soul Patts to join Matthew Tripp’s BetR for WA wagering licence bid

The company will join the BetR consortium chasing the rights. The Matt Tripp-led bookmaker has also flagged its interest in the lucrative Victorian wagering mandate.

The race for the West Australian wagering license is down to its final stages. Picture: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Washington H Soul Pattinson, the ASX-listed group with some $10bn in investments, is poised to join a betting consortium to bid for the West Australian wagering licence.

Sources familiar with the transaction have indicated WSHP will likely join the bid by BetR, the online wagering brand headed by digital betting pioneer Matthew Tripp, for the licence should the consortium behind the fledgling company come together by Monday.

BetR executives are working on convincing Seven West Media to also join the bid, for which it is likely to face competition from Tabcorp and London-listed Entain Group, the owner of the Ladbrokes and Neds brands in Australia.

BetR also lodged an expression of interest for the Victorian wagering licence on Thursday, joining the likes of Tabcorp, Entain, BetMakers and Sportsbet, owned by London-listed Flutter Entertainment, in that process.

Tabcorp has the Victorian licence until about mid-2024 and retail betting outlets in the state, but is keen to try carve out a better deal with the state government should it win an extension.

The Victorian government is expected to whittle down the lengthy list of companies that have lobbed expressions of interest within a few months.

Some wagering companies are understood to have put in bids just for an exclusive licence, while the government has also called for interest in as many as three non-exclusive licences.

A range of scenarios, including large upfront payments worth billions of dollars for a long-term licence lasting several decades or shorter licences with annual payments or share of profits, have also been presented.

Mr Tripp is launching BetR in September in a partnership with News Corp Australia, the publisher of The Australian, Las Vegas-based Tekkorp Capital, and ASX-listed BetMakers Technology Group.

BetR recently bought corporate bookmaker TexBet. It also has investment banks Barrenjoey and Goldman Sachs involved in arranging debt and equity financing for its overall business and the WA wagering bid.

Bids for the licence are due by Monday, after a three-week extension was granted earlier this month by the state, with the successful party expected to pay up to $1.1bn for the business.

WSHP is one of the oldest companies on the ASX and holds significant stakes in a range of listed companies such as Brickworks and TPG Telecom, as well as a portfolio of blue-chip stocks. The firm also has more than $650m invested in its own private equity holdings, including electrical engineering company Ampcontrol, Ironbark Asset Management and agricultural and water assets.

The BetR investment, should a bid lob for the WA assets by Monday and then be successful, would likely sit in the Soul Patts private equity portfolio that in June accounted for about 7 per cent of the group’s total assets.

The WA government is expected to take four to six weeks to decide on a preferred bidder for the wagering business, which is understood to deliver about $100m in annual pre-tax profits.

Entain is considered the frontrunner, though having Perth business identity and Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes as part of the BetR bid should Seven become a shareholder of Mr Tripp’s business would be considered a boost for its prospects.

Tabcorp sources have played down suggestions it would lob a large bid for the WA licence after shareholder Tanarra Capital recently urged it to not adopt a “have it at any cost” mentality for the asset.

But Tabcorp is still likely to be considered a strong contender by the WA government given its track record of holding licences in other states, though it is focusing much of its attention on NSW and Queensland, where it holds long-term licences, and Victoria, where it has currently holds an exclusive licence but faces competition for its extension.

Tanarra Capital has also said Tabcorp should consider a merger with an international suitor such as the London-listed Entain, which had a $3.5bn bid for Tabcorp’s wagering and media assets turned down last year.

Entain has been growing strongly in Australia, with net gaming revenue for the six months to June rising 19 per cent. But new point of consumption betting taxes in Queensland and NSW will cost it about £35m ($60m) annually, Entain management recently told analysts, though it would likely be able to mitigate half that.