U.K. Betting Industry Dealmaking Has Created New Champion: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- Formed by a merger less than a year ago, Paddy Power Betfair Plc has grown to become more valuable than Britain’s three biggest bookmaking chains combined. The company, made up of Irish bookie Paddy Power and the Betfair betting exchange, takes the vast majority of bets online, an area where traditional betting-shop firms are still playing catch-up. The gambling giant on Friday raised its profit guidance for the year after an estimate-beating third-quarter, sending its shares up the most in two months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Jarvis in London at pjarvis@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Boyle at mboyle20@bloomberg.net.