In the face of larger rivals, bookmaker BoyleSports says it plans to expand its betting shops in Ireland.
“We’re a growth organization,” BoyleSports Chief financial officer Mark O’Neill recently told the Sunday Independent. “We have to be with some of the big companies in our industry, and we’re ready and willing to look at any opportunities that we can pick up. If we could get another 30 or 40 stories in Ireland over the next 12-18 months, that would be the stated aim, and we can then bring them into our network.
“We’d fund that directly through our own internal resources,” he said. “We’re a family-owned business. John Boyle’s been in business for many years and has built up a strong business and we’re in a position where if opportunities come our way, we’re able to act on them quickly”
BoyleSports has recently moved to acquire nine stores from Bambury Leinster. If approved by regulators, it would bring the bookmaker to 219 stores in Ireland.
The firm made an attempt to acquire shops from the recently merged Ladbrokes Coral, but would make another attempt if more became available, O’Neill said.
“Should an opportunity present itself again, we’d absolutely look at it in the context of growing our business and our estate in Ireland,” O’Neill said.
However, O’Neill said such opportunities don’t happen very often.
“You’ve got four really big brands which cover a significant portion of the market,” he said. “None of them are going to come on the market any time soon. So, you need to look at the next layer down. And the next layer down would be regional independent players that maybe have chains around some of the bigger cities.
“We’re looking at opportunities all the time to pick up, let’s say, smaller chains in the UK where we could then put the BoyleSports brand on the high street in the UK and use that as a stepping stone then to further grow our online business as well as our retail business,” he added.
