Paddy Power Betfair Merger Leads to Closing Gibraltar Office

Sun, Jun 4, 2017

Paddy Power Betfair has closed its offices in Gibraltar as part of the streamlining of operations resulting from the merger of the two gambling companies. Staff at the office will be moved to Dublin or London. The firm also surrendered its Gibraltar license. The move comes as Gibraltar continues to grapple with the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Paddy Power Betfair has closed its Gibraltar office opting to transfer about 20 employees there to the firm’s Dublin and London offices.

The firm also surrendered its online gaming license for the Gibraltar jurisdiction. The move is being called a simplifying of the firm’s operations since the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair. Last year the firm made a similar move by closing offices on the Isle of Man.

The firm did not cite concerns over the UK’s leaving the European Union as a factor.

Gibraltar’s government said it had “a great working relationship” with Paddy Power Betfair, but understood the move. However, the company also noted concerns over Gibraltar’s role as an online gambling center following the UK’s Brexit vote. The government said that “whatever Brexit may produce for Gibraltar, Government will adapt its licensing and regulatory arrangements to ensure we remain the premier remote gambling jurisdiction.”