Report: News Corp to scale back its investment in Betr as operator moves for PointsBet arm
Capital support to slow as Betr investment reveals dent in News Corp’s balance sheet following launch
News Corp is set to water down its investment in Australian online bookmaker Betr after the operator reportedly secured the funding needed to enact its M&A plans.
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the Murdoch family-owned global media conglomerate poured tens of millions of Australian dollars into Betr to aid the bookmaker’s aggressive marketing strategy.
News Corp owns a 47% stake in Betr, the brainchild of former BetEasy CEO Matthew Tripp and former BetEasy executive Andrew Menz.
It has been reported that Betr has been a blight on News Corp’s balance sheet, with executives noting to Betr investors that they would not expect to provide immediate additional capital.
In turn, News Corp did not provide any further investment to Betr to aid in its recent agreement to acquire the Australian wing of PointsBet.
Instead, Betr employed the financial services firm Barrenjoey to help raise the A$250m (£139.69m) needed to finance the deal.
Speaking to AFR, Menz stated that the firm never hid its aggressive growth plans and that it had set itself up well following its launch.
Menz said: “There’s great momentum in the business already, and we’ll continue to look for step-change opportunities to win a share in the Australian wagering market and to enhance our offering to customers.”
Betr launched in October 2022 ahead of the Everest Carnival and Caulfield Cup, two of Australia’s biggest horseracing events each year.
Betr offered punters 100/1 odds on all bets up to A$10 on the Melbourne Cup.
It did not take long for the online wagering group to catch the eye of the gambling regulators, as within a week of its launch, around 30 of its newspaper adverts were investigated for possible advertising breaches, by Liquor & Gaming NSW.
Following this, Betr was fined A$20,655 by the Northern Territory Racing Commission for breaching its online gambling code of conduct.
The operator directly marketed itself to a self-excluded player with an offer to open a betting account shortly after they joined the register.