Ladbrokes Owner GVC Faces Probe

Ladbrokes owner GVC faces probe by UK tax authority


21 July 2020


Ladbrokes owner GVC has said it is "stunned" the UK's tax body is expanding a query into "prospective corporate angering" associated with its former Turkish online gambling unit.


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


GVC offered its Turkish organization in December 2017.


The company said it was co-operating with investigation.


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GVC were notified of the development on Monday, however stated it had yet to be notified of which of its subsidiaries were being investigated.


It stated it was "amazed by the decision to extend the investigation in this method and are disappointed by the lack of clearness provided by HMRC as to the scope of its examination".


"HMRC has not yet offered details of the nature of the historic conduct it is examining, with the exception of a referral to area 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 offence if a person associated with that company kickbacks another person to obtain or keep company, or to get or retain a benefit in the conduct of company.


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


The UK Gambling Commission told the BBC that it was "assisting" 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.