Ladbrokes owner GVC deals with probe by UK tax authority

21 July 2020

Ladbrokes owner GVC has said it is "surprised" the UK's tax body is expanding a query into "possible business offending" related to its previous Turkish online gambling system.

It stated HM Revenue & Customs had broadened its probe into providers GVC utilized in Turkey to include other entities within its group.

GVC sold its Turkish organization in December 2017.

The company said it was co-operating with examination.

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GVC were informed of the development on Monday, but said it had yet to be notified of which of its subsidiaries were being examined.

It said it was "surprised by the yohaig code decision to extend the examination in this method and are dissatisfied by the lack of clearness offered by HMRC regarding the yohaig code scope of its investigation".

"HMRC has actually not yet offered information of the nature of the yohaig code historical conduct it is examining, with the exception of a referral to section 7 Bribery Act 2010, nor has it clarified which part of the GVC group is under examination."

Section 7 states that a commercial organisation is guilty of an offense if a person related to that company kickbacks another individual to acquire or keep business, or to acquire or retain an advantage in the conduct of organization.

GVC's share rate was down 10.6% to 778.2 p on Tuesday following the news.

The UK Gambling Commission told the BBC that it was "helping" with the investigation.

HMRC decreased to comment.

In July 2019, GVC was forced to reject reports that it was still gaining from its former Turkish subsidiary, stressing that it no longer had ties with business.

"The board re-iterates the fact that subsequent to the disposal of the group's Turkish-facing business, GVC has no activity either directly or indirectly linked to the Turkish market," GVC said.

"Furthermore, the board also unconditionally refutes recommendations that the group, or senior management, continue to take advantage of any operations servicing the Turkish market."

Liz Coleman, previous HMRC tax inspector and specialist of advisory firm Integrated Dispute Resolution, said the examination might go on for a long time.

"HMRC examinations are typically prolonged and thinking about the size of GVC it could be going on for several years, although if there's a targeted technique it could be shorter," she stated.

"They have to analyse all the computer records too, so this promotion code might include a lot more time."

The HMRC's decision comes just a week after Kenneth Alexander revealed that he was stepping down as GVC's president.

Mr Alexander took control of in 2007 and manage the yohaig code company's acquisitions of rivals Ladbrokes Coral and Bwin.party.

GVC reported a 22% drop in total net earnings for the second quarter this promotion code year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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