Latest news with #DeniseCoates
Times
04-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Who could buy Bet365? Bankers salivate, but a takeover is tricky
It takes a lot to surprise London's investment bankers. But reports last week that Bet365, the self-styled 'largest mobile sports wagering brand in the world' was up for sale, blindsided the great and the good of the City. 'My phone has not stopped ringing about it,' said one seasoned betting sector banker. 'But I knew nothing about it beforehand.' The news that founder Denise Coates, Britain's richest woman and the country's biggest taxpayer, was looking to cash in her chips, left deal-hungry advisers with dollar signs in their eyes. Reports were that Coates, whose family fortune is estimated to be nearly £7.5 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, had invited advisers to pitch for overseeing either a sale of the Stoke-on-Trent-based business and/or a stock market float. The business could be worth £9 billion, according to The Guardian. A deal of that size would most likely involve the investment banking titans of Wall Street. Yet for whatever reason, some of them had not been invited to pitch for Bet365. JP Morgan was completely unaware that Coates had launched a 'beauty parade' as it is known in financial circles, according to City sources. American counterpart Jefferies is understood to have been similarly snubbed. That a sale is now on the cards should not come as a complete surprise. Bet365 announced in March that it was exiting remote gambling operations in China, where digital wagering is illegal and people could face a prison sentence if caught. Bet365 has historically had a sizeable remote operation in the country, so the decision to exit was seen as a watershed moment that some interpreted as a preamble to a potential sale, as reported by The Sunday Times in March. Selling up now makes sense in many ways. The company has had moderate success in the US, where a decades-long ban on sports wagering is being repealed on a state-by-state basis. In the years to come, America will be the world's biggest regulated sports betting market. Paul Leyland of independent consultancy Regulus Partners said: 'She has built an amazing company, but the complexity of gambling now is that you have to think like a group. Running a group of companies is very different to a company where you have your team around you. 'While she still has the US growth story coming through; while there is still appetite for the sector because nothing truly terrible has blown up… Maybe now is the time.' But a sale risks bringing Coates into conflict with the very things that she treasures the most: her personal privacy, and that of the company that she started from a Portakabin in a Stoke car park in 2000. Coates could well shield herself from the limelight on a personal level. But any corporate transaction involving Bet365 is likely to involve a protracted and complicated due diligence process. Aged 57, Coates has no natural family successor, according to those with knowledge of how the company works. 'It's not like there is a 35-year-old Harvard Business School-educated son or daughter already working in the business and ready to take over,' said one source. Accordingly a sale may be her only option, if Coates does wish to tap out. But even so, the population of potential buyers is far from vast. In part this is because betting sector investments are excluded on ethical grounds by many funds. Similarly some bankers, such as Royal Bank of Canada, are not even allowed to advise on gambling sector transactions. Private equity Apollo, CVC Capital, and Blackstone are likely to be the only funds with the combination the firepower and mandate to buy either all or part of Bet365. They all declined to comment on whether they were interested in a putative bid for Bet365. Listed suitors are similarly limited. FTSE 100 firm Entain and former counterpart Flutter would most likely be excluded on antitrust grounds. So perhaps the only public company that could swoop is the US-listed DraftKings — but this is a company that is comparatively cash poor. A DraftKings takeover would undoubtedly involve the Coates family having to take the US firm's shares in part or full payment. Bet365 declined to comment on reports of a sale this weekend. As for its next steps — all bets appear to be off.
Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Stocks jump as China ‘evaluating US offer' for trade talks
6:45AM Good morning Thanks for joining me. Stock markets have climbed after China said it was 'currently evaluating' an offer from the US for talks on tariffs. Japan and Hong Kong were higher after Beijing said Washington had reached out after President Trump suggested there was a 'very good chance' of a deal between the world's two largest economies. 5 things to start your day Harrods hit by cyber attack after M&S hacked | Harrods has been forced to restrict the internet at its shops after the upmarket retailer was targeted. Pottery firm popular with the late Queen goes bust | Moorcroft Pottery, which is based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, announced it would cease trading after grappling with the rising expense of keeping its factory open. Britain's richest woman plots £9bn sale of gambling empire | Denise Coates, the billionaire owner of Bet365, has reportedly held discussions with Wall Street banks and advisers over a potential deal. Ryanair threatens to ditch Boeing for Chinese jets | Chief executive Michael O'Leary warned that a 'material' impact on the price of aircraft could prompt his company to take its business elsewhere. Civil servants threaten to strike as fears grow of summer of discontent | Civil servants at energy regulator Ofgem are in revolt over jobs and pay What happened overnight Asian markets jumped after China said it was evaluating approaches from the US regarding President Donald Trump's tariffs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.7pc to 22,496.33, while markets in Shanghai were closed for a public holiday. Taiwan's benchmark jumped 2.7pc to 20,787.64. An unnamed Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Beijing had taken note of various statements by senior US officials indicating a willingness to negotiate over tariffs. 'At the same time, the US has recently taken the initiative to convey information to the Chinese side on a number of occasions through relevant parties, hoping to talk with the Chinese side. 'In this regard, the Chinese side is making an assessment,' it said. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 picked up 1pc to 36,827.58, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3pc to 2,563.01. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1pc to 8,226.80. Microsoft and Meta Platforms led Wall Street higher Thursday after the Big Tech companies reported profits for the start of the year that were even bigger than analysts expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.6pc for an eighth straight gain to 5,604.14, its longest winning streak since August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2pc to 40,752.96, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.5pc to 17,710.74. Microsoft rallied 7.6pc after the software giant said strength in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence businesses drove its overall revenue up 13pc from a year earlier. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also topped analysts' targets for revenue and profit in the latest quarter. It said AI tools helped boost its advertising revenue, and its stock climbed 4.2pc.
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Will a new betting firm sale net the richest boss £5billion?
Britain's best-paid boss could be in line for a £5billion pay cheque – her largest so far – with the sale of her Bet365 gambling empire. Denise Coates's family are in talks to sell the firm, which could reportedly be valued at £9billion. This would see the country's richest woman handed her largest ever single payout of £5.22billion, as she owns 58 per cent of the family business. Discussions with Wall Street banks and US advisers have been held about a total or partial sale, The Guardian reported. Options being considered are said to include listing the business on the New York stock market. Other proposals could allow the family to retain part of the firm by selling a slice to a private equity investor or publicly listing one division in a spin-off company. Ms Coates, 57, is famous for her record-breaking pay packets, which over the last decade have amounted to around £2.4billion. Ms Coates, 57, is famous for her record-breaking pay packets, which over the last decade have amounted to around £2.4billion (stock photo) She set up Bet365 in 2000, from a car park in Stoke-on-Trent, and it now employs more than 8,500 staff. It remains a family business, with her brother John Coates serving as joint chief executive and a major shareholder. Ms Coates – who was awarded a CBE in 2012 for services to business and the community – received a salary of nearly £95million in the year to March 2024, company accounts show. Bet365 was approached for comment.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Denise Coates gets her timing right again at Bet365
If you want to crack the booming US gambling market as a UK or Irish company, it's best to find an American partner, buy an American business, or just emigrate. Flutter, the Dublin-based owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, has been through the collection. It took a punt on FanDuel, then just an online fantasy games business, in 2018 as an option on US liberalisation of its gambling rules. When states in the US did indeed start to open up, it gained full control. Last year, and with FanDuel now its biggest division, Flutter switched its listing to New York. Entain, the Ladbrokes and Coral group that remains in the FTSE 100 index, has a US joint venture with MGM Resorts. Denise Coates of Bet365 will have taken note. The lure of a US jackpot is the most likely explanation for why she is exploring a full or partial sale of the family-owned company, as revealed by this newspaper. You'd stake a large sum that any deal will involve US money or a US partnership. The US is the obvious place to go, and the politics of expansion are easier there when you can present a local face. The point about the US market is that it is already big – and on the way to becoming enormous. Flutter talks about a $70bn 'market opportunity' in North America, having generated $5.8bn of revenue from FanDuel last year. Bet365 has taken a more cautious approach, and has only recently won licences in 13 states, but the market itself is still in the 'land grab' phase. Some of the biggest states are yet to liberalise fully. The appeal of Bet365 for US private equity investors or firms will be its technological and back-office expertise, just as it was with the others. It may sound odd to think of US firms as novices in any tech-related field, but that's how life has been in gambling. Bet365 brings the history of being the pioneer in the complicated business of 'in-play' betting – betting on the timing of the next corner in a football (or soccer) match, for example. Any would-be investor would surely be mad to let Coates head for the exit immediately. She built the business from a portable building in a car park in Stoke-on-Trent from 2001, anticipating that betting would go online with the arrival of the internet. It may now be worth £9bn or so. She is 57 and is a hands-on boss – you'd want her on board for as long as possible. Thus a two-stage deal looks the most likely. First, bring in outside capital and a US partner. Then, after a few more rounds of expansion and with a succession plan in place, make a fuller exit, possibly via a listing on a US stock exchange. Alternatively, on the outside chance there is a would-be acquirer for the whole business today, bidders know they have an opportunity. Coates seems to have been warming up for this moment for a while. Bet365 has stopped taking bets from China, where betting is illegal, and ownership of Stoke City Football Club, which would surely be seen as non-core by most investors, was transferred to Coates's brother. None of which guarantees that a deal will be found, but the odds are favourable. The US market is hot and Bet365 is the last big, tech-savvy UK operator that is up for grabs for a US investor. Coates's timing looks excellent.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Family owners of Bet365 weigh up potential £9bn sale of gambling empire
The billionaire Coates family behind Bet365 are weighing up a sale of their online gambling empire that could value the business at £9bn, the Guardian has learned. The company, headed by Denise Coates, has held talks with Wall Street banks and US advisers in recent weeks about a full or partial sale, sources familiar with the matter said. Informal discussions explored options for a potential sale, including a medium-term plan to float the business on a US stock exchange. One option on the table includes a partial sale to a private equity investor, with the Coates family retaining a stake before an eventual listing. It could also see a spin-off of part of the business, rather than a full listing of the Stoke-on-Trent-based firm. A second source said they were also aware of discussions with private equity groups about taking a pre-float stake. One person with knowledge of the talks said Bet365 had reached the 'beauty parade' stage, where companies sound out banks they think could help them extract maximum value from any deal. Bet365 did not return requests for comment. Selling Bet365 could net Denise Coates, 57, more than £5bn, based on her 58% stake. It would cap an extraordinary growth story rooted in the humble origins of a Portakabin in a Stoke car park. Under Coates's stewardship, Bet365 pioneered online gambling technology, coming from a standing start to eclipse far more established brands such as Ladbrokes and William Hill. In recent years it has expanded into the US, capitalising on a sports betting boom that began in 2018 when the supreme court overturned a decades-old federal ban on the practice. Since then, Bet365 has won the right to operate in 13 states and is pursuing new licences as more states introduce regulated betting. The Coates family have taken several steps recently that would make Bet365 more attractive to US investors. Earlier this year, the company announced it was pulling out of China, a market where its presence had stoked controversy because betting is illegal there. In August last year, Bet365 transferred ownership of Stoke City football club to John Coates, the brother of Denise. 'It would be very difficult to have China exposure given the level of scrutiny that might be applied in the US, and why would you have a football club attached, that's a family legacy,' said Paul Leyland, the director of the gambling consultancy Regulus Partners. He said a sale in the US was 'compelling for everybody', providing an exit for Denise Coates and, for cash-rich US investors, offering a proven success in a growing industry. 'There's more money chasing gambling than there are gambling companies that are investable,' he said. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The gaming consultancy Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) estimates that revenues in US sports betting will soar from about $14bn last year to more than $23.3bn by 2029. Bet365 has a market share of about 2.5% and EKG believes it is aiming for a double-digit take. 'That is not an easy or cheap market to crack and potentially requires more funding to enable them to aggressively attack the opportunity,' said Alun Bowden, an EKG analyst. 'Now feels a very good time to explore exit opportunities, and the timing feels right with Denise turning 60 in two years' time.' EKG has previously valued Bet365 at up to $12bn (£9bn), based on typical valuations in the industry and the company's pre-tax profit of £627m last year, on revenues of £3.7bn. Denise Coates is already famed for the record-breaking pay and dividends packages by which she has extracted £2bn from the company she built. Since 2019, Britain's best-paid woman has increased her holding from 50.2% thanks to her parents, Peter and Deirdre, transferring their shares to her. Bowden said: 'For decades people have been telling me the one business they wish they could invest in was Bet365, and while there is a bit of an industry consensus that they are a fading star, they remain one of, if not the best, online sports betting business in the world, with huge headroom for growth in casino, the US and many other markets. I don't think they will have many problems.' Coates's father, Peter, the 80-year-old son of a miner, was a successful local businessman in the catering industry, who owned a string of betting shops. But it was Denise, an econometrics graduate, who at around the turn of the millennium became aware of the jackpot opportunity that lay online. She bought the domain name from eBay for $25,000 ($18,000) and borrowed against the bricks-and-mortar stores to develop sports betting technology that left slow-moving rivals in the dust. She is famously shy of publicity but in a rare interview with the Guardian in 2012 she said her family's story made them the 'ultimate gamblers'.
