Online gambling firm GVC Holdings has reportedly set aside some €200 million ($248.6 million) from its 2017 results after unexpectedly being asked by the government of Greece to pay a tax bill of around €186.7 million ($232.1 million).

According to a report from the Financial Times newspaper, the tax charge relates to the 2010 and 2011 Greek operations of online sportsbetting operator Sportingbet, which GVC Holdings acquired in 2013, but is not due to impact the firm’s ongoing £4 billion ($5.6 billion) takeover of British rival Ladbrokes Coral Group.

Isle of Man-headquartered GVC Holdings reportedly declared that it is seeking legal advice and has ‘strong grounds to appeal the assessment’ because the bill is ‘substantially higher by multiples of the total Greek revenues generated by the subsidiary’.

Nevertheless, the Financial Times reported that GVC Holdings has agreed a plan with Athens that will see it hand over approximately €7.8 million ($9.7 million) a month for the next two years that it could eventually recover if any subsequent appeal is successful.

The Reuters news service moreover reported that GVC Holdings expects the soon-to-be-acquired Ladbrokes sportsbetting brand to record net gaming revenues for 2017 of about €1 billion ($1.2 billion) while predicting that its own core earnings would reach the top of its range after it recorded takings in 2016 of €873.2 million ($1 billion).