Paddy Power in Sportsbet buyout

PADDY POWER — the leading Irish bookmaker — is set to take full control of Australian online betting company Sportsbet by exercising its option to buy the outstanding minority share of the company it didn’t already own for €101 million.

The Irish company initially bought a controlling 51% stake in the Darwin-based Sportsbet, for just over €27m, in the summer of 2009; before upping that to just under 61% in February of this year.

Yesterday, the company announced it will exercise its option to sweep up the remaining 39%, for €101m, giving it full ownership of Australia’s largest corporate bookmaker.