Ladbrokes (London: 291.75p / + 8p / + 2.82%)
The six-year dispute between Ladbrokes and De Lotto will head to the European Court of Justice, the London-listed bookmaker said Friday.
Since 2002, Ladbrokes and De Lotto, a state-owned lottery and sports betting operator in the Netherlands, have remained at loggerheads over the legality of offering cross-border betting services to Dutch residents.
Per an October 2006 ruling by the Appeals Court in Arnhem, Ladbrokes is prohibited from accepting wagers from the Netherlands.
The company appealed the Arnhem court's ruling in the country's Supreme Court, which, Friday, referred the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
"We have fought for six years against Dutch protectionism and finally we have won the referral to the European Court of Justice," John O'Reilly, head of e-gaming at Ladbrokes, said in a prepared statement.
Due to disparity between time zones, Interactive Gaming News could not reach Tjeerd Veenstra, the executive director of De Lotto, for comment.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.