PaddyPower and Betfair announce huge merger

The deal has not been finalized yet, but if the two companies merge, the result will be the biggest gambling company in the UK with an estimated value of £5 billion.

On August 26, Betfair and PaddyPower have announced that they have agreed to a merger. According to the agreement, PaddyPower shareholders will own 52% of the new company with Betfair shareholders owning the remaining 48%.

If the two companies merge, they would become the biggest sportsbook on the UK market, but the online poker section of both sites could also experience a big surge in traffic.

The two companies started discussing a merger after the news that Gala Coral and Ladbrokes joined forces to create a £2,3 billion company, but the expected sale of bwin.party to 888 Holdings/GVC could also be a factor.

PaddyPower was founded in 1988 in Ireland, nowadays it's one of the biggest sportsbooks of the UK with almost 600 betting shops.

Betfair was founded in 1999 and the company has plenty of licenses in addition to their UK license, for example in Malta, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Denmark and the United States.