Gibraltar

A planned #70million takeover of Victor Chandler International, the Gibraltar-based bookmaker, by investment group Enic, is on the verge of collapse.

Spain has voiced strong opposition to Gibraltar?s application to join UEFA.

Media and leisure entertainment business Enic is close to finalising its takeover of Gibraltar-based online bookmakers Victor Chandler International, according to the financial news website, www.sharecast.com.

A revolution in British gambling is causing the biggest shake-up of the UK's six-billion-pound betting industry since legions of backstreet bookmakers were put out of business when betting shops were legalised in 1961.

Paddy Power, Ireland?s largest bookmaker, is to launch an online betting service and plans to open betting shops in the UK?s big city centres.

The UK betting industry has been thrown into turmoil by Irish government plans to reduce betting duty from 10% to 5%.

UK sport and leisure group Enic is set to enter the on-line betting scene after newspaper reports revealed it was in discussions with independent bookmaker Victor Chandler.

UK bookmaker, William Hill, is set to expand its online betting service in the US and Far East.

Victor Chandler, the famous on-course bookmaker, is to sell his betting business to Enic, the leisure and entertainment group set up by Joe Lewis, the billionaire currency trader, in a deal expected to value Chandler's operations at up to #70m, according to UK press reports.

Power Leisure, the Irish-based bookmaker, has put additional pressure on the Irish government to further cut betting duty after announcing plans to move its online and telephone operations to the UK where the nine percent betting tax on punters will be scrapped on October 6.
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The International Cricket Council has approved South Africa?s proposals for the format of the 2003 World Cup.

Bookmaker Victor Chandler is to launch an internet betting service it says will tap into the growing interest in football.

Sport, media and Leisure group, Enic has pulled out of its proposed takeover of Gibraltar-based bookmaker Victor Chandler.

Gibraltar, obliged to play at last week's Sudirman Cup under the neutral flag of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), hit out at the federation's annual general meeting on Sunday.

ukbetting, the online bookmaker that made its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last week, has signed a deal with troubled sports internet company Sportal for an undisclosed sum.