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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lioness and pottery owner among honour recipients
A footballer and ceramics industry leader have been named among the Staffordshire recipients in the King's Birthday Honours list. Lioness Rachel Daly, from Tamworth, and Emma Bridgewater, owner of the eponymous Stoke-on-Trent-based pottery firm, were appointed MBE and DBE respectively. Daly, who currently plays for Aston Villa, received the honour for services to Association Football, having been part of England's victorious Euro 2022 campaign. The striker has 84 international appearances and also holds the Women's Super League's joint record for the most goals in a season with 22. Ms Bridgewater was honoured for her services to ceramics having founded Emma Bridgewater Pottery in 1985. The firm currently employs about 230 people at its factory on Lichfield Street, in Hanley, and the company produces 1.9 million pieces of pottery every year. She was previously appointed CBE in 2013 for services to British industry. Other Staffordshire honours include British Empire Medals (BEMs) for foster parents Elisabeth and Gavin Brownlees, an MBE for ice hockey player Saffron Lane and a BEM for volunteer fireman Andrew Buttery. Councillor Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire County Council, congratulated the county's recipients and thanked them for their contributions. "Staffordshire is a county rich in human talent and I am delighted to see residents' abilities, hard work and achievement recognised in this way," he added. Emma Mary Bridgewater, founder of Emma Bridgewater Pottery, is appointed a DBE for services to ceramics Sean Allen Whinray, of Stafford, senior support officer at the Staffordshire Lieutenancy, is appointed an MVO (Member of the Royal Victorian Order) for services to the Crown Michael Charles Mellor, of Cannock, coordinator of the Miners Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, is appointed an OBE for services to heritage and to recognition of the mining community Dr Diane Swift, of Burton upon Trent, a trustee of The Creative Learning Partnership Trust, is appointed an OBE for services to education Prof Sharon Arkell, of Burntwood, Dean of the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing at the University of Wolverhampton, is appointed an MBE for for services to higher education Rachel Daly, of Tamworth, is appointed an MBE for services to association football John Ian Davies, of Stafford, Associate Professor of Biomedical Science Practice at Staffordshire University, is appointed an MBE for services to the NHS diagnostic pathology service and biomedical science education Saffron Fern Lane, of Pattingham, lately captain of the GB Women's Ice Hockey team, is appointed an MBE for services to sport Graham Lee, of Tamworth, Chair of the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust Ltd, is appointed an MBE for services to heritage railway preservation and charity Gareth Brian Moss, of Alrewas, Chair of Trustees for the John Taylor Multi-Academy Trust, is appointed an MBE for services to education Elisabeth Brownlees, of Tamworth, a foster carer for the Birmingham Children's Trust, is awarded a BEM for services to foster care Gavin Brownlees, of Tamworth, a foster carer for the Birmingham Children's Trust, is awarded a BEM for services to foster care Andrew David Buttery, of High Offley, a volunteer for Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in Staffordshire Valerie Neale, of Stonnall, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in Stonnall Tracey O'Flaherty, of Stafford, is awarded a BEM for services to the community in Staffordshire Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. 'Saving the ocean is all I've ever wanted to do' Keele professors among New Year Honours recipients Foster couple thought New Year Honours a wind-up King's Birthday Honours: How does the UK honours system work? Staffordshire County Council
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.
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'.
