Spreadex and Sporting Index merger raises provisional competition concerns
An independent panel has provisionally found that Spreadex has bought its only remaining rival in licensed online sports spread betting in the UK.
Last year, Spreadex acquired the ‘retail business’ of Sporting Index from Sporting Group Holding Limited (Sporting Group). Spreadex and Sporting Index both provide fixed odds betting and sports spread betting to customers based in the UK.
Sports spread betting involves betting on a range of outcomes of sporting events rather than the standard ‘win or lose’ outcomes offered by fixed-odds betting. In spread betting, the closer a customer’s bet is to an outcome, the more money they stand to win, and the further away from the outcome they are, the more they stand to lose. This means that, in contrast to fixed odds betting, customers’ wins and losses in spread betting can be far higher than the amount they bet.
The Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) Phase 2 investigation, which is led by an independent panel, focused on licensed online sports spread betting, where Sporting Index and Spreadex are the only two operators.
Having assessed the evidence, the panel provisionally considers that the merger has substantially lessened, or could substantially lessen, competition in the supply of licensed online sports spread betting services in the UK. The panel provisionally found that the deal would remove the only other licensed provider in the UK, and suppliers of other betting services, such as fixed odds betting and financial spread betting, only provided a weak constraint on the new business.
The panel are provisionally concerned that this could lead to worse user experience, a more limited range of products and/or higher prices than would otherwise have been the case absent the Merger.
The panel are also consulting on possible remedies for this substantial lessening of competition, including whether Spreadex should sell a business made up of all or some of the Sporting Index assets that it acquired as part of the merger, and whether it should also have to include any Spreadex assets in the sale.
Richard Feasey the chair of the independent panel reviewing the merger, said:
Having assessed this deal, our provisional conclusion is that it raises serious competition concerns in the licensed online sports spread betting market. It would remove the only other licensed provider of sports spread betting in the UK and could lead to a worse user experience for consumers.
We will now be considering how best to remedy this lessening of competition. Given that Spreadex has already acquired certain Sporting Index assets, our initial view is that Spreadex would need to divest sufficient assets to allow a purchaser to operate a rival licenced spread betting business on a standalone basis.
The CMA welcomes responses to its provisional findings by 15 August 2024 and its notice of possible remedies, which sets out potential options for addressing its provisional concerns, by 8 August 2024. These will be considered ahead of the CMA issuing its final report, which is due by 26 November 2024.
Further details are available on the Spreadex / Sporting Index case page.
Notes to editors:
- The CMA launched its formal Phase 1 investigation in February 2024. This review identified a realistic prospect that the deal would lead to a ‘substantial lessening of competition’ – focusing on the potential impact on consumers and businesses in the UK – and therefore required an in-depth, Phase 2 investigation. Phase 2 investigations last 24 weeks (extendable by up to 8 weeks for special reasons) and allow an independent panel of experts to probe in more depth initial concerns identified at Phase 1. Upon making these provisional findings, the panel has decided to extend the statutory timetable by eight weeks which means that the deadline for preparing and publishing the final report is now 26 November 2024.
- Sporting Group Holding Limited (Sporting Group) is a subsidiary of La Française des Jeux (FDJ). FDJ has retained ownership of Sporting Group which includes sports betting technology and the trading service provider Sporting Solutions.
- For media enquiries, contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or [email protected].