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Germany is unlikely to hike taxes by 17 percent on all online gambling stakes after the European Union condemned the idea on Tuesday. This sent Bwin.Party shares surging.
Bwin.Party topped the mid-cap gainers board, up 7¾p to 140p, while online betting exchange Betfair Group gained 16½p to 632p.
Some analysts predicted that the German government would simply “tweak” the tax increase, maybe lowering a few percentage marks.
Reiner Haseloff, premier of Saxony-Anhalt and current spokesman for the states, told the Financial Times that “Germany has a distinct legal tradition” which allowed strict regulation of betting to prevent gambling addiction.
“We will see if we can find compromises on the points that have been raised,” he said, while saying he was not worried by the possibility of renewed challenges in Europe’s highest court. That was “not an existential issue” for the states.
Bwin and Betfair both argued that Germany’s intention to favor its state run lottery would directly hinder any viable business plan for those companies electing to do business in the nation.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
