Gvc Share Discussion Threads

[18bt] 21/3/2018 18:23

fizzy, it's a 2nd interim as not conditional on approval by shareholders at the AGM

[noujay] 21/3/2018 18:20

Now that the fed have raised the rates and promised a further two this year any thoughts on the cash impact for gvc?

[woozle1] 21/3/2018 17:39

As someone who used to work in junk bonds (quite a few of which went bust!), I always worry about the debt because it can all to easily wipe out the equity.

[t 34] 21/3/2018 17:07

Don't worry . Why it has sub investment credit rating whereas everyone is exited about prospects for new entity.

[woozle1] 21/3/2018 17:01

T34,
I know because I've held it for years but I would like them to stop paying dividends, preserve cash and pay down the debt. I'd rather a company with a string b/s paying no dividends than one with weak b/s paying out cash to shareholders. It's got a sub investment credit rating and that's not great.
w1

[t 34] 21/3/2018 16:33

Woozle1
It has always been the divi stocks even at the hardest time so stop it.

[mylands] 21/3/2018 16:26

Nice spike up at the end of the day - buying ahead of ex-div tomorrow.

[mylands] 21/3/2018 15:46

Fizzypop

Wishful thinking.

Seeing the GVC RNS on the CMA's clearance and the timetable for completion of the deal, we have only just over a week till we join the Footsie.

[t 34] 21/3/2018 15:26

Hmmmmm , good point .

[fizzypop] 21/3/2018 14:42

"On 9 March 2018 the Group declared a second interim dividend of 17.5€c in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2017 and together with the first interim dividend of 16.5€c this resulted in an aggregate of 34.0 cents for the period. This represented an increase of 13% on the aggregate declared special dividends of 30€c for the 2016 financial year. In terms of dividends paid in 2017, this totaled 46.5€c (nil in 2016)."

Why call this a 2nd interim dividend when in practice this is the final dividend for the 2017 financial year? Does this leave the option open for another dividend?

[mylands] 21/3/2018 14:19

Noujay

That percentage exposure is exactly the same as 888, strange coincidence.

[noujay] 21/3/2018 13:44

GVC exposure to Germany will be 7% following the merger and Kenny Alexander said one week ago he was "bullish" on Germany regulating as it would open up opportunities - specifically in poker I believe

[nurdin] 21/3/2018 11:13

No RNS from GVC re the merger clearance? At least not flagged on ADVFN

[srpactive] 21/3/2018 11:06

Seems as one door closes another opens, dyor.

C/Europe is the past, US, China and Russia are the future, with
the UK shops and regulated markets, dyor.

Ignore all I say and do

active

[nurdin] 21/3/2018 11:00

cheers mylands.

Thanks speedsgh...looks grim.Is it worth the risk holding on here? I have no idea but one has to be mindful of the risks

[speedsgh] 21/3/2018 10:59

Under OVERVIEW OF REGULATION IN MATERIAL TERRITORIES WHERE THE COMBINED GROUP DO NOT HOLD GAMING AND BETTING LICENCES in the GVC circular re LCL acquisition...

pg209-211

6.2 Germany
The legality of the German regulatory regime for the provision of online betting and gaming services has been uncertain for a number of years. The current German Interstate Treaty on Gambling came into force on 1 July 2012 and there are currently several on-going legal challenges. The provision of facilities for online betting and gaming services is generally prohibited without a licence. While online casino and poker are subject to a total ban under the Interstate Treaty, a license tender for online sports betting commenced in 2012. Each of the GVC Group and the Ladbrokes Coral Group were successful applicants in the tender process for one of the 20 available Germany-wide sports betting licences. However, due to ongoing legal challenges, no such license has been granted so far. In July 2015, the European Commission took preliminary steps towards infringement proceedings against Germany and criticised, inter alia, the inconsistency of the ban on online casino and poker while allowing online sports betting. The Higher Administrative Court of Hesse on 16 October 2015 confirmed several defects in the sports betting licensing process that are contrary to EU law with the effect that the licensing process was stopped. While these challenges remain unresolved, there is a risk of enforcement action being taken against providers of online betting and gaming services who do not hold a local German licence. However, there is evidence of renewed political impetus to resolve issues of legal certainty through amendments to the current regulatory regime, in particular to include regulation of online poker and casino.

Various subsidiaries of the GVC Group have been issued prohibition orders under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling and related legislation, as well as under earlier legislation by certain German States. The GVC Group has filed administrative proceedings challenging each of these orders and in some cases has also filed state liability complaints against the respective German State. While some of the cases
concern challenges of prohibition orders, the GVC Group is not presently subject to any prohibition orders currently being enforced against it. Following the ECJ judgments issued in September 2010 (Markus Stoß et al, Carmen Media and Winner Wetten) and February 2016 (Ince) as well as the GVC Group and the Ladbrokes Coral Group’s successful licence applications in the tender procedure for one of the 20 available Germany-wide sports betting licences (see below), no new prohibition orders have been initiated against the GVC Group or the Ladbrokes Coral Group, save for one single prohibition order from the German State of Hesse, to which, however, the authority has declared not to commence any enforcement actions, prior to a court having decided over this issue. In several cases, GVC Group companies entered into settlement agreements and recovered fines that had initially been paid.

Recently, however, German authorities have sent warning letters with regard to the products not licensable under the Interstate Treaty to several operators (including GVC Group companies ElectraWorks Ltd and Martingale Malta 2 Ltd). Furthermore, the ruling of the German Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht) of 26 October 2017 against two companies unrelated to the GVC Group, namely Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Limited, a company of the 888 Holdings Plc group of companies, and NG International Ltd, in which the Federal Administrative Court has found, inter alia, the prohibition of online casino and poker to be in line with EU law and German constitutional law, has increased the risk of enforcement against the online poker and casino offer. Therefore, there is a risk that currently dormant cases could be reopened and new fines imposed.

Due to on-going legal challenges of the legislative framework, there are currently no licences available for online sports betting and the main case relating to the license tender is currently pending before the Higher Administrative Court of Hesse. In addition, no new licences are available for the provision of online gaming facilities in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, where online gaming licences were issued by the state government between 2012 and 2013. The GVC Group holds online gaming and betting licences from Schleswig-Holstein and presently its products are available to consumers in Schleswig-Holstein under its licences. The GVC Group and the Ladbrokes Coral Group also have a pending application with the German State of Hesse for a Germany-wide sports betting licence. Apart from the GVC Group’s locally licensed offer in the German State of Schleswig-Holstein, the GVC Group and the Ladbrokes Coral Group currently provide services in Germany under their EU licences on a point-of-supply basis. Following the Effective Date, the Combined Group intends to make its products available to consumers in Germany on the basis of the GVC Group’s Schleswig-Holstein licence and based on the EU market freedoms on a point-of-supply basis.

While amendments to the Interstate Treaty that had been scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2018 have not been ratified by all 16 German states, as would have been required, it is likely that the legislative debate will recommence in the course of 2018. A number of states have openly criticised the current legislation and its non-compatibility with EU law, including the lacking of licenses being
available for online casino and poker. Until a feasible legislative solution has been found, German gambling legislation will remain under court scrutiny.

It is a criminal offence to offer illegal gambling as well as for consumers to participate in such gaming offers but proceedings against individuals have been rare. Consumers of online poker may commit a criminal offence by failing to report taxable income gained as a result of their participation in poker games but this is subject to challenge in the federal courts. Assisting in payment transactions in
connection with illegal gambling is prohibited and the competent authorities can prohibit transactions.

[speedsgh] 21/3/2018 10:53

Under LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY RISKS in the GVC circular re LCL acquisition...

pg33:
... Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Italy, Austria and Greece are among the key markets from which the Combined Group will derive revenues. Each of these markets has risks associated with it and specific attention is therefore drawn to them below...

pg34-35
(b) Germany

There is a lack of legal certainty regarding German law relating to online gambling due to the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling which came into force on 1 July 2012 (the “Interstate Treaty”), which has since been subject to ongoing legal challenge before German and European courts. An overview of the relevant German law and the issues raised by it is set out in Part 8 of this document.

Whilst the GVC Group offers online sports betting and online casino and poker to players situated in Schleswig-Holstein on the basis of local licences, it remains uncertain if and when the GVC Group or, following the Effective Date, the Combined Group will be able to secure licenses for sports betting in order to offer their sports betting products in the overall territory of Germany following the GVC Group and the Ladbrokes Coral Group each having successfully completed the sports betting license tender for Germany-wide licensing.

With regard to online casino and online poker, uncertainty remains as to whether the prohibition of these products as stipulated within the Interstate Treaty is compliant with the Treaty of the Functioning on the European Union (“TFEU”) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) case law. As a result, there is an increased risk of civil, administrative and criminal enforcement against the GVC Group’s and therefore, following the Effective Date, the Combined Group’s online casino and poker offering. Furthermore, certain suppliers to the GVC Group, namely Alliance Gaming Solutions Ltd (Gauselmann Group) and Greentube Internet Entertainment Solutions GmbH (Novomatic Group) have ceased providing online casino software licensed to the GVC Group for access by players located in Germany. It also cannot be excluded that further suppliers to the GVC Group or, following the Effective Date, the Combined Group may be unwilling to support certain types of Germany-facing activity (particularly where suppliers have physical presence themselves and/or wider landbased businesses in Germany).

Various subsidiaries of the GVC Group have been issued prohibition orders under the Interstate Treaty and related legislation, as well as under earlier legislation, by certain German federal states. The GVC Group has filed administrative proceedings challenging each of these orders. While some of the cases concerning challenges of prohibition orders have been settled positively for the GVC Group, others are currently dormant. There is a risk that currently dormant cases could be reopened and new fines imposed.

Despite the absence of clarity on the German legal framework for gambling, there is a risk of enforcement action against the GVC Group and, following the Effective Date, the Combined Group due to lack of compliance with provisions of the Interstate Treaty, which may include German authorities (i) considering the supply of online casino and poker to its customers located in Germany and/or the supply of certain potentially prohibited types of sports betting to its customers located in Germany as being illegal and thus subject not only to sanctions under administrative law but also under criminal law, (ii) seeking to seize funds generated from the allegedly illegal activity or (iii) attempting to initiate payment blocking.

Amended legislation is expected in due course and is likely to be proactively enforced. Should any enforcement action be taken, it may not only divert management time but, ultimately, may necessitate a withdrawal from the German market with a consequential material adverse impact on the financial condition of the GVC Group (and, following the Effective Date, the Combined Group).

[mylands] 21/3/2018 10:49

nurdin

Taken from online Casino:

On 5 May 2012, Schleswig-Holstein issued the first seven online sports betting licenses to online betting exchange Betfair, JAXX subsidiary myBet, state lottery operator Die NordwestLotto, bet365, bwin.party, bet-at-home and Tipico.

On 24 January 2013, Schleswig-Holstein voted in favor of joining the German Interstate Gambling Treaty, which now has all 16 states joining the Treaty. The issuing of SH licenses has ceased, but the previously approved licenses remain in force and are valid for their six-year duration. That amounts to 23 sports betting licenses and 13 online poker licenses. As before, the operators can only offer online gaming to the SH market.

So BWIN have a licence that will expire in less than two months to operate in Schleswig-Holstein.

[nurdin] 21/3/2018 10:36

As I understand it GVC are paying tax in Germany but do not as yet have a formal license.Please correct me if I am wrong.

[mylands] 21/3/2018 07:42

Copied from yesterday's 888 thread.




IMO almost certainly this is the reason, or part of the reason, for the markdown. Not sure with the LCL takeover what percentage of revenue will in future come from Germany. In the 'old days' it was their largest market but then the takeovers of Sportingbet and BWIN dramatically reduced their exposure. I don't know if 888 have a licence in Schleswig-Holstein, which GVC does, and how much that affects the situation in Gerrmany as a whole.

speedsgh

Thanks for the news, another hurdle cleared.

Just occured to me could there have been a rumour being spread around yesterday that the CMA was about to block the deal?

[speedsgh] 21/3/2018 07:34

CMA clears GVC / Ladbrokes merger -

The CMA has cleared GVC's acquisition of Ladbrokes following its merger investigation.

GVC Holdings plc (GVC) and Ladbrokes Coral Group plc (Ladbrokes) both supply online betting and gaming services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been carrying out an investigation into the proposed merger. This has found that the merger does not give rise to competition concerns.

GVC has a small presence in the UK and only offers services online. The CMA has found that GVC and Ladbrokes are not close rivals and there are many other providers of betting and gaming services online.

The CMA looked closely at betting services for individual sports and individual games but found that, in all cases, there will be enough rivals to the merged entity to prevent price increases or a reduced quality of service as a result of the merger.

The merger will therefore not be referred for an in-depth investigation.

[t 34] 21/3/2018 07:33

macaroni
No , 22 March is ex - divi day .

[trentendboy] 21/3/2018 00:14

German regulation issue I wonder...

[macarona] 20/3/2018 18:15

Is tomorrow the ex dividend date?