Unibet, Sportingbet abandon merger talks

LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Stockholm-listed online gambling company Unibet Group Plc (STO: UNIB SDB) said today its preliminary talks over a potential merger with UK Sportingbet Plc (LON: SBT) have been discontinued, commenting on media reports over the weekend. However, Unibet maintains an ongoing dialogue with a number of companies in the sector, the company said. Last Sunday, the Sunday Times reported, citing unnamed sources, that the two players had held discussions to combine their operations and that further talks were expected over the coming weeks. A potential merger would have reportedly created a company with a market value of GBP600m. Yesterday, Unibet's Swedish depository receipts (SDRs) climbed over 5% on the stock exchange in Stockholm driven by the merger speculations. By 15:06 CET today, the stock had lost 2.68% to SEK127 .