Casino and bingo giant Rank has put its loss-making online sports betting arm Blue Square up for sale.
Blue Square, which is best-known for its sponsorship of the Conference leagues, was bought by Rank a decade ago for £63 million and it is likely to make a considerable loss on any sale. Rank said in a statement that it was undertaking a “review of the business”, which is generally code for it being up for sale.
Rank chief executive Ian Burke ran a similar review in 2009 when Blue Square won a reprieve but he made it very clear then that it had to improve considerably. It has about 100,000 online customers but has struggled to achieve critical mass against the online operations of traditional bookies like William Hill and Ladbrokes or the online specialists such as 365.com and Sporting Index.
Blue Square buys its technology in from 888.com and supplies 888.com’s sporting book. Analysts suggested this would make that company the most likely buyer of Blue Square at what they said would probably be little more than a nominal price.
Rank said it would continue to expand its two main brands Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo on multi-channel platforms. The group will report full-year results at the end of this month.
