Sportingbet and Bwin call off talks sportingbet

Hopes for further consolidation within the online gaming sector have been dashed once again this morning after Sportingbet announced it had broken off takeover discussions with rival European betting and gaming giant Bwin.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company said “discussions have now been mutually and amicably discontinued”.

The news follows on from the break off of talks between Ladbrokes and 888 earlier this year which it is believed hit the rocks over the legacy risk from caused by the latter’s previous existence as a US-facing operator.

Sources close to the Sportingbet/Bwin discussions suggested there was “no surprise” in the news. “There were a lot of regulatory issues, and as a consequence they couldn’t find a way forward,” he said.