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According to sky news Betfair are targeting a £1.5 billion pound autumn floatation
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Replies: 73
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I`m sure there were no plans to float in the Q and A the other night.
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http://blogs.news.sky.com/kleinman/Post:b0eeb22e-54df-4558-bde9-7b60fc3e80d3
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Oh, joy. More money invested in arcade games.......
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Betfair, the online betting exchange, is targeting an autumn stock market listing valuing the company at about £1.5bn, I have learned.
I understand that Betfair held detailed talks earlier this week with its advisers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley about a plan that would see the company catapulted straight into the FTSE 250 as early as September. It would be a landmark moment for a company dubbed ‘Britain’s secret Google’ and which was founded just 11 years ago. And it would provide a platform for Betfair to lead the consolidation of the online gaming market. As I understand it, Betfair’s shareholders will not formally decide to press ahead with the flotation until after the summer break. It will undoubtedly take into account the performance of other IPO candidates, one of which – Fairfield Energy – cancelled its listing this week, before taking a final decision. One person close to the betting exchange told me today that Betfair was “95 per cent certain” to announce an IPO in September. A flotation would give the company access to capital to accelerate its expansion, both internationally and by moving into other areas that use similar exchange technology. In one sense, as a tech company with no obvious listed peers, Betfair could be compared to another business experiencing a rather torrid ride as it prepares to go public: the online grocer Ocado. The similarities between Betfair and Ocado are merely superficial, however. For one thing, Betfair recorded earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in the year to April 30 2009 of just over £70m. That was on sales of about £300m – a very healthy margin indeed. Ocado, by contrast, has yet to make any money. I’m told that Betfair, which abandoned an attempt to float in 2005, would be unlikely to use its listing to raise new money by issuing new shares but that some of the existing investors would seek to reduce their shareholdings. Four blocs of shareholders each own about a quarter of the company, comprising: Ed Wray and Andrew Black, Betfair’s founders; Softbank, the Japanese bank; a group of venture capital investors including Balderton Capital; and company employees. Betfair declined to comment. http://blogs.news.sky.com/kleinman/Post:b0eeb22e-54df-4558-bde9-7b60fc3e80d3 |
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I’m told that Betfair, which abandoned an attempt to float in 2005, would be unlikely to use its listing to raise new money by issuing new shares but that some of the existing investors would seek to reduce their shareholdings.
Floating before they sink? |
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Betfair Live Chat Joined: 07 Jun 00
Replies: 40 13 Jul 10 19:03 We’re certainly trying to run the business well and keep it growing and successful but have no immediate plans to float.  |
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Those live chats are a waste of time as we've seen previously! YTS employees with standard answers wrote out for them.
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Personally I reckon Betfair themselves behind these rumours.
I mean think about it, bung some banker / city trader a few k to start a rumour & an off the record press leak { and they know a lot of bankers } , and all of a sudden every one is talking about Betfair again. Free publicity galore.  |
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bung some banker / city trader a few k to start a rumour
k would have to be m to get those ponces involved. The last time they thought about floating they paid a financial parasite a couple of million just to walk into their offices and fart. |
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i think 100% betfair will list..owners need to get some of there money out that tried up in betfair for all those years, stocket market listing is the only way today
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Will float this year to the tune of 1.5 billion!
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we have no plans to float
we have no plans to raise vat I have no plans to get laid |
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So what differences do we think this will make to the actual site and the people who use it?
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It would be a landmark moment for a company dubbed ‘Britain’s secret Google'
ROFPML. If betfair ran google the result of your search would arrive by second class post unless you used your own search algorithm or bought one off a third party. We're talking about an outfit that, in 10 years, have been unable to get the browser back button to carry out the default functionality on their forum. An outfit that reserves 99% of its processing for a group of people who contribute no real (non-cheating) liquidity (strangely they charge this group less than everyone else and they, even more strangely, respond by bitching non stop about it). The success of microsoft does suggest that lack of innovation needn't prevent world domination but microsoft at least knew how to plagiarise the ideas of others. I can only think the article misspelt Dougal. |
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Ill be having a few shares for deffo, not going overboard but on the basis that Im an honest individual with reasonable success who has to pay premium tax then its like paying myself then
 With regard how betfair change after the float....They have started to become and will continue to be ruthless in maximizing profit and if they step too far then theres the safety net of the other exchanges there to learn by the mistakes imo |
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" The last time they thought about floating they paid a financial parasite a couple of million just to walk into their offices and fart."
Are you still counting your money feck?  |
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another thread hijacked by the whinging cnut, start a blog feck ffs
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strangely they charge this group less than everyone else and they, even more strangely, respond by bitching non stop about it
dlarssonf belongs to this group and is also a financial sector parasite (NAP). |
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you have no idea, you are just a horrible despicable whinging cnut
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You sound tough arsonfire. Bet you're one of those pin striped w@nks that does cage fighting.
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no not tough at all, can't understand how some1 can whinge and moan and complain about the echange yet here you are everyday. I wouldn't mind if you started threads to this effect because when I see your name as the thread starter I skip them. But when there is a discussion going on , you start with your same old whinge and bang end of thread.
a horrible whinging prick is actually being kind to you |
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If Betfair didn't/no longer existed the sad sack feck would be bereft; he'd have to toddle off to Money Saving Expert so he can read his own comments. He's more to be pitied than pilloried.
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Fk me, there's two of them.
I made two posts, both relative to the thread, prior to you two would be city boys sticking your oars in and hijacking the thread. What's up with you ladies anyway? Were you unable to close out a £2 trade or something. |
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"The group, founded 11 years ago, is understood to be seeking to float chiefly to provide an exit route for some of its existing shareholders." FT.com
Not exactly encouraging, given the threats that may lie ahead. Come on Betfair lets have some positive spin to help those existing shareholders. |
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That's the way I see it hazel. Unfortunately I think they're finding that few, if any, countries are going to stand idly by while they waltz in and decimate their income from gambling and put their horse racing industries under threat. They'd have been strangled at birth in this country as well had their timing not coincided with the offshore exodus of bookmakers. Interbet, who were really the first internet based exchange, were hounded out of the country by the customs and excise.
And they're not going to achieve world domination from Antigua. |
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I think you might need a woman feck (or maybe a man)
The inherent bitterness and jealousy seeps from every pore dont it? |
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No thanks dusty but I wish you well in your quest.
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amazing why horse racing has been protected for so long and the big 3 allowed to fleece away mug money......market forces will take effect sooner or later!
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if they do try to float the bad press just might follow, bent jockeys,
fast picture cheating, owners laying, the can of worms might have a affect |
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THEY WILL DO IT AFTER THE WORLD CUP ONE YEAR WHEN ALL THE COMMISION FROM THE WORLD CUP GAMES ARE SHOWN,
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Betfair, in 11 year has never paid out any of there profit..and betfair doesn't want to pay from profit...listing is the only way for shareholder to get money from betfair :)
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Profits have peaked.
Punters skinned. Future bleak. |
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if they do try to float the bad press just might follow, bent jockeys,fast picture cheating, owners laying, the can of worms might have a affect
If the true extent of this is ever made public it will make expansion all the more improbable. There are already EU countries banning betfair on corruption grounds? If they can't get it together in the EU what chance have they outwith it. The only good thing that could come out of this is that betfair might finally start looking after their existing losers and maybe make them give a bit more thought to expansion in this country. Maybe they haven't got the bottle to go to war with the big bookmakers though. |
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They have a trusted brand name and a large, growing customer base.
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so that's what the premium charge was for then. Advertising
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the game was crooked long before betfair came along.....at least they have audit trails!
Expansion in exchange betting will come just a matter of time and breaking the mould. |
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Imo the valuation looks far too high,any gambling website is subject to future legislation that could seriousy damage future profits.
Saying that i imagine those who invested ten years ago are salivating at the prospect of lottery style returns on relatively modest sums. |
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I agree Zebadei their valuation is far too high....... future expansion in overseas markets may now be limited given some are looking at building their own platforms.
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zebadei is right, imo.
if I had wealth tied up in betfair, I'd want to monetise it sooner rather than later for two reasons. 1 - future legislation is likely to curtail a lot of what they do. 2 - there's no inherent reason someone can't build a platform to do the same thing better/cheaper, and destroy their current de facto monopoly. neither of those things currently seems imminent, which makes it a good time to get out. |