Paddy Power’s deal with the Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to provide a sports-betting backend will help the Dublin-based company to sidestep the “mother of all pissing matches” in terms of marketing when the French market opens up next year, according to Breon Corcoran, the managing director of non-retail and development.

As growing numbers of online betting and gaming operators embrace white-label spread-betting offerings it becomes increasingly likely that one or more of them will seek to acquire their partners, according to a new analyst’s report.

Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU), the French horserace betting monopoly, has reported a 22 percent rise in internet bets taken during 2009 ahead of the liberalisation of France’s gambling market that will see the operator expand to a broader online sports betting offering later this year.

Paddy Power expects its newly acquired Australian sports-betting operations will be the fastest-growing segment of the business and will eventually represent a third of the group’s earnings, according to analysts.

Sportingbet chief executive Andy McIver says monopoly operators in its main European target territories would be formidable competitors were they to take full advantage of their leading positions in liberalising home markets.

The online sportsbook and gaming software supplier behind a large percentage of online gambling bets in the UK is likely to see its majority ownership pass into the hands of private equity, raising the possibility that the company could be floated off or sold.

Sportsbook technology supplier Orbis has snapped up online games producer Electracade in a further sign of dramatic consolidation within the online gaming software supplier market. Meanwhile Alphameric has released a pre-close statement suggesting that its TurfTV joint venture now outstrips earnings from its betting shop solutions operations.

The chief executive of PartyGaming says he observes a growing spirit of cooperation between online gaming operators and governments across the globe and argues Party’s recent acquisition of the World Poker Tour (WPT) will open a route for the company into the US in advance of any possible state or federal regulation.

Paddy Power took the opportunity of a full-year results presentation to reaffirm that it is willing to pay tax on the online business that comes from its Irish customers – but only if the tax is enforceable on all operators taking bets from Ireland.

PartyGaming has announced its first-ever deal with a government-controlled lottery operator after signing up Denmark’s Danske Spil for the provision of online casino and poker when that market opens in 2011.