Entain may owe over £100 million ($127 million) in compensation to investors due to its failure to disclose issues related to bribery and corruption in its former Turkish operations, according to The Guardian.
Legal firm Fox Williams is leading the action following Entain’s settlement agreement to pay nearly £600 million ($765 million) to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Finalized in December 2023, this settlement ranks among the UK’s largest financial penalties, stemming from a bribery investigation.
Entain, the parent company of Coral and Ladbrokes, saw its shares drop nearly 50% since announcing in May 2023 that it faced a substantial penalty to settle with HMRC.
In August of last year, Entain set aside £585 million ($746 million) in anticipation of the investigation settlement. The deal concluded in November included a financial penalty and “disgorgement of profits,” where funds from illegal acts are surrendered. Additionally, Entain agreed to donate £20 million ($25.5 million) to charity and pay £10 million ($12.8 million) towards HMRC and Crown Prosecution Service costs.
The investigation, launched by HMRC in 2019, examined “potential corporate offending” by Entain’s Turkish-facing online betting business from 2011 to 2017. It also scrutinized activities of third-party suppliers and former employees. Entain, then known as GVC, was accused of lacking adequate procedures to prevent bribery benefiting the business.
A spokesperson for Entain told The Guardian, “We are currently unaware of any action of this kind against the company, and have not received an issued claim. We would defend any such action robustly.”
Andrew Hill, a partner at Fox Williams, stated, “This claim will offer institutional investors the opportunity to recover substantial losses but more importantly serve to improve transparency and governance within the UK’s gambling sector. Public companies need to take their disclosure obligations seriously.”
Hill added, “Hopefully this will have the knock-on effect of improving corporate behavior because public companies should know that their shareholders won’t let them get away with misconduct.”
In July 2020, HMRC announced an investigation into potential corporate offenses by Ladbrokes’ former Turkish subsidiary, which caused Entain’s shares to drop by 12%.
Recently Entain also faced a claim of over $100 million from the former owners of BetCity, a Dutch gambling operator they acquired last year.
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