Sportingbet.com (UK) Plc, the first British based company to offer tax-free betting via the Internet, announced today that it has purchased Betmaker.com, a privately owned company based in Costa Rica with over 31,000 customers.
The Central American base has provided the company with a platform to establish a loyal customer base across North, Central and South America. The company has been in operation since 1996 and has an annual turnover of £100 million. (more than US$150 million). The company covers all areas of sports
betting, including North American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice Hockey, South American Football (Soccer) and European Sports. .
Sportingbet.com has acquired all of the assets and goodwill of Betmaker.com, which boosts Sportingbet.com's customer base to over 43,000 registered customers.
Sportingbet.com Managing Director Mark Blandford called the deal "the most significant step that we have made in securing our position in the American market." He added, "This is a value for money deal and coupled with the recent South East Asian deal (an exclusive deal with Sing Invests, a leading specialist sports betting marketing group in South East Asia) puts us in a strong position towards fulfilling our ambition to become the dominant global player in online bookmaking. Over the coming months we have a number of specific language sites launching which we believe will ensure further significant growth and diversification of our customer base."