Matchbook has acquired fellow betting exchange Betdaq for an undisclosed sum, consolidating two established peer-to-peer betting platforms as the company expands its presence in prediction markets.
Announced on October 14, the deal aims to combine both exchanges’ liquidity, allowing customers to access more competitive prices and place larger bets at available odds. The transaction is also understood to include Racecourse Data Technologies, which supplies technical equipment and betting software to racecourse bookmakers.
The acquisition leaves four major betting exchanges in the UK market: Matchbook, Betfair Exchange, Spreadex and Smarkets.
As reported by Racing Post, Matchbook CEO Ronan McDonagh said the transaction reflects the company’s commitment to exchange betting, where market participants determine prices directly.
“Betdaq and Matchbook grew up proving the same idea – that bettors get a better deal when prices are made by a market rather than a margin.”
Betdaq Confirms Trading and Withdrawal Deadlines
Betdaq’s existing platform, operated by EPS Ltd, will remain available for trading until October 21, 2026. Customers can withdraw funds from their accounts until November 4.
Matchbook has assured users that their balances remain protected under the regulatory obligations applicable to both operators. Betdaq’s website provides further information about the transition and available account options.
McDonagh emphasised the company’s responsibility toward existing customers:
“Our first priority through this transition is Betdaq’s customers: their funds are safe, their options are clear, and in one combined pool they should find better prices and deeper liquidity than either exchange could offer alone. Everything we are doing – this deal included – is about making the exchange first choice.”
By bringing trading activity onto one platform, Matchbook expects to improve market depth and narrow the difference between back and lay prices.
The transaction also marks another ownership change for Betdaq, which Irish businessman Dermot Desmond founded in 2000.
Desmond sold the exchange to Ladbrokes in 2013 for €30 million (£25 million) before buying it back eight years later from Ladbrokes’ parent company, Entain.
Matchbook, established in 2004 and headquartered in Alderney, has operated in the sector for more than two decades. Its purchase of Betdaq adds an established competitor to its portfolio during a period of changing conditions for UK betting exchanges.
Matchbook Strengthens Prediction Market Strategy
The acquisition follows Matchbook’s recent expansion into prediction markets, an area experiencing increased interest in the United States.
In December 2025, Matchbook became the first UK company to launch a prediction market platform. The business subsequently signed a white-label agreement with ADI PredictStreet in June 2026, connecting its technology to the official prediction market partner of the FIFA World Cup.
The operator has also developed easyBet through its partnership with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup.
These activities have broadened Matchbook’s operations beyond its traditional betting exchange business, with prediction markets becoming an increasingly important part of its commercial strategy.
The company has reported gradual gains in UK exchange market share despite declining gross gambling yield across the sector during 2025/26.
Acquiring Betdaq provides a more immediate increase in scale, adding an established customer base and additional trading activity.
McDonagh linked the deal to the development of peer-to-peer markets internationally:
“A quarter of a century on, that idea is winning: exchanges and prediction markets are bringing peer-to-peer pricing to new audiences around the world, and this acquisition deepens the pool at the heart of everything we build.”