CVC, the majority owner of Sky Bet, bought in for an 80% stake three years ago. Now, according to Reuters, they’ve hired the Rothschilds to look at listing them on the UK stock market. If they go ahead, it looks to be floated at somewhere north of £2.5 billion. CVC and Rothschild have so far refused to comment on proceedings, but it looks like a selection of banks will compete next week as to who will put forward the initial public offering for the Leeds-based operator.
CVC have a bit of a history when it comes to floating major UK gambling firms on the stock market. Back in 1999, they partnered with Cinven to buy William Hill for approximately £825m, only to float the company on the stock market – again, roughly three years later.
Sky Bet is an online only platform, which makes them particularly attractive amongst the larger operators at a time when high street gambling in the UK is coming under increased pressure, with the government’s FOBT decision looming. It breaks down into several brands – Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky Poker, Sky Bingo and Sky Casino – and also includes the Oddschecker site.
The online sector is likely to receive less intensive scrutiny as the government ups the ante with industry regulation, but many still expect stricter licensing conditions, especially regarding advertising. Recent noise over advertising during pre-watershed hours on UK television, as well as a possible crackdown on credit card deposits, are both issues which may affect both online and brick-and-mortar operators in the UK.
Neither CVC nor Sky Bet have yet commented publicly.
