Kan Tang, CEO of Asian Logic, says his company is on track to complete its acquisition of Philippines-licensed sportsbetting operator 12Bet by January. Asian Logic, which owns the Asian Poker tour in addition to its online poker and casino products, believes the addition of a strong Asian-facing sports-betting specialist will rank the new entity among the top three gambling groups in the region.
We’re big fans of Asian Logic, and we view this deal as one of the more astute moves made thus far in the Asian market. Ordinarily, we aren’t merger cheerleaders, but by adding 12Bet’s sportsbetting expertise, CEO Tang has forged a company that’s strong across all verticals in a market that isn’t yet as mature as some others. In addition, as the two companies are currently privately held, the fusion of the two involves infinitely less distractions than the current kerfuffle that’s enveloping the Pwin behemoth.
However, despite Tang’s claims that 12Bet’s exposure in Europe (it sponsors snooker’s UK Championship, Sevilla FC in Spain and has betting partnerships with several Premier League teams) will allow the new blended company a better shot at making inroads into that market, we aren’t convinced that’s a top priority of theirs at the moment. More likely, the idea of getting licenses in Germany and Spain is designed to give the firm a little added credibility in the eyes of punters in their core Asian markets.
That said, we’d be pretty disappointed if Tang follows up his suggestion that the company may choose to re-enter the publicly traded realm at some point in the future. After all, it’s only been a year and half since Asian Logic de-listed itself from London’s Alternative Investment Market following low trading volumes. Is this like battered wife syndrome, as you expect those City boys to treat you any differently this time around? We say stay free and stay strong, Kan. To our way of thinking, that would be the Logical thing to do.
