Tripp, Sullivan to join forces as betr and BlueBet merger confirmed
Matt Tripp and Michael Sullivan, two of the most influential figures in the modern-day Australian bookmaking landscape, will join forces after a merger between wagering companies betr and BlueBet.
In a move announced to the ASX on Thursday, the deal will allow the new entity to consolidate its place in the online gambling space amid a downturn in wagering revenue.
Betr is owned by a consortium of investors headed by Tripp as chairman while BlueBet is listed on the ASX, with its executive chairman veteran bookmaker Sullivan.
Tripp has been a founder and seller of several online betting operations including Sportsbet, CrownBet and BetEasy but his betr venture has met with troubled times since launching amid great fanfare in 2022.
He will emerge with control of ASX-listed BlueBet under the terms of the merger.
The deal marks the first time that Tripp has had a business listed on the ASX.
Betr reportedly signed up 350,000 customers in its first few weeks of business during the 2022 spring carnival on the back of an aggressive marketing and promotional campaign.
But since the exit of NewsCorp as a shareholder less than four months after the start-up opened, there has been widespread speculation about the businesses future.
Sullivan, a former boss of Sportingbet Australia and William Hill Australia, launched BlueBet in 2015.
BlueBet has told investors that it would also raise $20 million to cover the costs of the transaction with betr.
Bren O’Brien
Sullivan, who will be executive chairman until Tripp assumes the role in January 2025, expects the merger to allow the new entity to compete with wagering giants Sportsbet, Tabcorp and Entain – the dominant players in the Australian industry.
“This is a transformation moment for BlueBet, bringing together our best-in-class technology platform with betr’s high-quality customer base to create a national challenger in the online wagering market,” Sullivan said.
“The betr team is fully aligned with this vision, and we are excited by the growth opportunities and synergies that will be unlocked through the proposed merger of our two businesses.”
“This is a transformation moment for BlueBet.” – Michael Sullivan
Betr chief executive, Andrew Menz, will be in charge of the new business.
BlueBet chief executive, Bill Richmond, will become chief operating officer while Sullivan will remain on the board as a non-executive director next year when he is replaced by Tripp.
“Today is a significant day for betr and a major step towards achieving our ambition to be a tier one wagering operator,” Tripp said.
“The combination of our joint scale and the BlueBet technology platform is extremely powerful.
“What excites me most is the deep experience and highly complementary, skillsets of the combined team which sets us up well for the next phase of growth.”
Tripp has held merger talks with other parties over the past year.
He was reportedly in an exclusive negotiation period to acquire ASX-listed PointsBet before the wagering competitor sold its business in the United States to Fanatics in a $225 million deal.
“What excites me most is the deep experience and highly complementary, skillsets of the combined team which sets us up well for the next phase of growth.” – Matt Tripp
BlueBet has a market capitalisation of $50 million after reporting $536.6 million in turnover during the last financial year.
The company generated $319 million turnover in the first half of financial year 2024 with almost 72,000 active customers giving it about 2 per cent of the Austraian wagering market.
It reported a 17.2 per cent growth in turnover for the third quarter of 2024 from $119.1 million to $139.6 million.
In the corresponding quarter, betr’s turnover tumbled nearly 23 per cent from $354.2 million to $273.1 million.
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