Matchbook Acquires Betting Exchange Betdaq

Betting exchange Matchbook has completed its acquisition of fellow exchange Betdaq for an undisclosed sum. The deal brings two of the industry's longest-running peer-to-peer platforms under one owner. 

The transaction also covers Racecourse Data Technologies, which supplies hardware, betting software and technical support that lets on-course bookmakers hedge into the Betdaq exchange.

Matchbook said Betdaq's existing service will stay open for trading until October 21 to allow an orderly transition, with customer accounts remaining open for withdrawals until November 4.

25-Year Rivalry Now One Combined Pool

Betdaq was founded by financier and businessman Dermot Desmond in 2000, one of the earliest betting exchanges to launch in the UK and Ireland. 

Desmond sold the business to Ladbrokes for €30 million (£25 million) in 2013, then bought it back eight years later from Ladbrokes' parent company, Entain. 

Matchbook was established in 2004 and has more recently launched easyBet, a joint venture with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup, and the prediction market platform ADI PredictStreet.

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Better Deal For Bettors

Matchbook chief executive Ronan McDonagh framed the deal as a bet on exchange-style pricing over traditional bookmaking, saying Betdaq and Matchbook had grown up proving the same idea: that bettors get a better deal when prices are made by a market rather than a margin, and that exchanges and prediction markets are now bringing that peer-to-peer pricing to new audiences worldwide. 

McDonagh added that Betdaq customers are Matchbook's first priority through the transition, with their funds safe and their options clear, and said the combined pool should give customers better prices and deeper liquidity than either exchange could offer alone.

Merging order flow from two established exchanges should, in theory, tighten spreads and deepen liquidity close to race off-times, a key selling point for bettors who compare exchange prices against standard betting sites odds before placing a bet.