For a few days, the gambling industry was buzzing over the proposed merger between two European giants, Unibet and Sportingbet. However, on Tuesday it was announced the talks had come to an end.

The announcement came from Sportingbet, who said in a press release that Unibet had withdrawn from the negotiations and the two companies will go their separate ways.

The merger would have had a major impact in the industry, as both companies have strong brands and are major operators in the sports betting market. Both companies also run online poker sites. Sportingbet owned Paradise Poker used to be the market leader in online poker in the early days of the business, and is now a skin in the IPN network (earlier known as Boss). Unibet's online poker site operates in the Microgaming network.

Earlier this year, bwin and PartyGaming announced their merger which is scheduled to take effect in the first quarter of 2011. Further consolidation within the industry is expected.

Source: Poker News Daily.