Canada based The Stars Group, owner of popular businesses including, Sky Bet and Full Tilt Poker are cutting jobs in their Dublin based office ahead of the proposed merger with Flutter Entertainment.
Job Cuts
Over the past twelve months, job numbers have fallen from 330 down to around 260. Some customer service employees have been given notice and are expected to leave towards the end of 2020.Other jobs have been phased out where some employees have been offered different positions within the business. TSG are concentrating more on filling position in India and Bulgaria, with job positions from staff who have already left outside the job cuts not being filled.
Long-Term Sustainable Growth
The Stars Group released a statement saying it’s Pokerstars operation faced difficulties last year with disruption occurring in some markets. Despite the impending merger of The Stars Group and Flutter they believe the proposed cuts will deliver long-term sustainable growth and Dublin was an important hub within the business.The deal is still to be finalised but has come under fire from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) who believe if the merger goes ahead, the company will own 40% of the UK’s online sports betting business and 26% of online gambling market. Normally 25% or more would be enough to trigger a CMA investigation. The main aim of the CMA is to regulate mergers and acquisitions so not to create monopolies within a business or them becoming too dominant within a market, thus protecting other competition and giving the public a fair choice.If the merger does happen it’s estimated the overall business will be worth €10-12 billion, one of the biggest deals seen, it will bring operations in Ireland, Australia, Europe and the UK under one umbrella.