Celtic Bookmakers buys firm for €5m

Celtic Bookmakers, the chain of betting shops owned by former TD Ivan Yates, has spent an estimated €5 million on the purchase of Joe Molloy Bookmakers, a smaller bookmaking business.

The acquisition of the Dublin-based Joe Molloy chain adds 10 outlets to Celtic's 37-strong network.

Celtic is set to invest an additional €5 million over the coming three years as Mr Yates seeks to expand his family's business to 60 shops and to raise turnover to €250 million.

Last year, the company had a turnover of about €105 million. Mr Yates said it was growing by about 20 per cent per annum without the kind of expansion allowed by the latest deal.

He said growth in the future would come from a mixture of organic expansion and targeted acquisition. His preference is to buy existing, long-established shops such as those in the Joe Molloy chain.

Joe Molloy was fully-owned by Sheila Pomeroy, the granddaughter of the business's founder. Her grandfather set up his first outlet in 1913 and the company was subsequently owned by Ms Pomeroy's parents, Molly and Kevin.

Ms Pomeroy said yesterday that her parents had always expressed the wish that, in the event of a sale, the buyer should be independent and Irish.

Mr Yates said he had fought off "intense competition" to do the deal, which strengthens Celtic's presence in west Dublin in particular.

Celtic Bookmakers was established in 1987 in Wexford and has since expanded throughout the Republic.

In the past year, the company has also opened outlets in Swansea and Bristol and is in the process of opening further shops in Carmarthen and Newport in Wales.

Other sites are "in the pipeline", according to Mr Yates. "The serious growth will be in Ireland," he said.

He plans to have 50 shops by the end of this year, acknowledging that his business needs to become larger if it is to avoid being acquired itself.

"You're either going to force change or be the subject of it," he said. Mr Yates believes that the reduction in betting tax from 2 per cent to 1 per cent from July 1st has provided a "viable basis" for domestic players to develop.

As well as adding to Celtic's network, the Joe Molloy acquisition brings with it a telephone betting business. Mr Yates said Celtic would now "migrate" on to this platform too.

Celtic is due to take over operational control at Joe Molloy on September 12th.