Deal to sell Football Pools on the cards
SPORTECH, the listed gaming company, could be set to sell its Liverpool-based football pools division.
Speculation has been rife for some time that the London-based group may wish to divest itself of the long-standing business, and AIM-listed interactive gaming firm NetPlay TV said it is in talks over a potential deal.
In the six months to June 30, the football pools business generated EBITDA of £7.4m (2014: £8.2m) on revenue of £17.2m (2014 £9.3m). A price tag of £100m has been mooted, meaning that any potential deal would be a reverse takeover as NetPlay’s market value is only around £20m.
In a short statement, NetPlay TV said: “The company notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it has held discussions with the board of Sportech in relation to a potential acquisition of The Football Pools business.
These discussions are at a very preliminary stage and there is no guarantee that any agreement will be reached.
If it proceeds, the acquisition would constitute a reverse takeover…. Accordingly, the company’s ordinary shares have been suspended from trading on AIM with immediate effect and will remain suspended until either these discussions have ceased or an AIM Admission Document has been published.”
The Football Pools has provided customers with the chance to win big cash prizes by playing pool games based on the outcome of football matches for over 90 years.
Despite the surge in online gaming and other competition, around 300,000 every week enjoy Football Pools games. The Football Pools has paid out over £3.2bn to winners and donated over £1.3bn to sports, the arts and good causes in its 90 year history.
It has been based in Liverpool since its launch in 1923.
According to weekend reports, a key player in the deal is the Israeli gambling tycoon Teddy Sagi. He owns around 28% of Netplay via his Directforce Trading vehicle, which is by the largest shareholder in the interactive gaming company.
Netplay took the stake in 2009 as part of a reciprocal deal with Playtech, Mr Sagi’s software business, when it backed a placing at the company.
Mr Sagi is worth $3.3bn and built his fortune through the gambling software business, Playtech. Gambling groups using its software include Betfair, Bet365, William Hill and Paddy Power. Playtech developed the systems behind fixed-odds betting terminals.
