Ireland’s largest private bookie BoyleSports is up for sale and is sending details through to potential suitors, according to multiple sources.
The mid-sized retail and online gaming operator is looking to sell up, with assets including its approximately 390 shops across the UK and Ireland, and its digital brand.
Any deal would come at a time of uncertainty in both of BoyleSports’ markets, with Ireland currently in the process of regulating its iGaming market while the UK digests the impact of the close to doubling of its online casino tax rate to 40% of GGR.
Prospective buyers would get hold of a major Irish high street brand that could potentially be a local hero for the soon-to-be regulated online market, with the new regulator GRAI currently processing licensing applications.
Reasons cited for the move include owner John Boyle’s age, who at 70 is likely looking to retire more fully from the business following his resignation as CEO in 2017.
After Boyle’s move to chairman, BoyleSports cycled through several CEOs including the owner’s son-in-law Conor Gray, who was replaced by former UK Tote managing director Mark Kemp in 2021.
After Kemp quit to lead the then newly established DAZN betting brand, the company eventually brought on board former William Hill executive Vlad Kaltenieks in 2023, who continues to lead the business.
NEXT.io understands John Boyle’s semi-retirement has been interrupted by spells where he felt the need to step in and help steer the business, which included a several-month period after Kemp’s exit during which the company lacked any CEO at all.
While industry sources told NEXT.io BoyleSports “is in a better place now”, the main issue now is the company needs capital to scale at a time when its own resources are getting squeezed by regulation.
BoyleSports looks to expand UK presence
The business announced an eye-catching £100m UK relaunch in July 2025, which included opening 200 new shops and signing a front-of-shirt partnership with West Ham United FC.
The extent to which this strategy has been affected by Remote Gaming Duty’s 40% hike, as well as General Betting Duty rising to 25% from April 2027, is unknown.
Sources – who told NEXT.io the assets have been shopped around at least since February – added that the company would ideally want diversified operations in other markets, something that could be provided by a purchaser with international scale.
One potential acquirer that could make sense on paper is former French lottery monopoly FDJ United, which has a stated ambition of building positions in regulated European markets and owns the Irish national lottery operator.
Another potential buyer highlighted by sources is Betfred, although price and the physical positions of BoyleSports’ retail assets may have proved stumbling blocks.
Sources also told NEXT.io John Boyle will likely be looking for a premium on the assets, something that might prove elusive at the current moment. “I think if a bullish buyer had turned up, it would have happened, but here we are,” one industry advisor told NEXT.io.
BoyleSports did not respond to NEXT.io‘s request for comment by its deadline.
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