Victor Chandler, the highly publicized English bookmaker who told the recent Global Internet Conference in Vancouver that he plans to become "bookie to the world," now plans a November launch of his online service from a Gibraltar tax haven.
The London Daily Telegraph reports that Joe Lewis, a reclusive Bahamas-based financier, has brokered a deal in which ENIC, an international sports/entertainment group, has acquired a 25 percent stake in Chandler's operation for $7.845 million. The paper says "the implications of the deal are enormous as Chandler seizes the opportunity to take advantage of technological changes, headed by the Internet and digital television, to become a global leader in sports betting" and said he plans "to exploit the huge American sports market", possibly in partnership with Australian media mogul Kerry Packer.