British bookie the latest centre of speculation

01.08.2005

Online gambling people in the know and investment gurus alike were talking about the latest listing speculation this week - that Coral Eurobet is setting itself up for a GBP 800 million stock market flotation.

According to the Sunday Times, the British group operates 1260 betting shops in the UK, and has reportedly appointed London investment bankers Lehman Brothers to advise it on a public listing.

The newspaper speculates that the Coral executive team, which owns 16 percent of the stock could reap a golden harvest from such a listing if it is as successful as the recent Empire Online and PartyGaming initiatives.

The majority stock holder is private equity house Charterhouse.

A flotation is said to be its preferred option, although a trade sale has not been ruled out. However, the company's GBP 1.2 billion debt means any prospective buyer would have to find GBP 2 billion to fund the deal.

Coral was founded in 1926. As well as its retail outlets, it has a telephone betting operation, an online betting arm and greyhound racing tracks. The company makes annual operating profits of around GBP 145 million on sales of GBP 5.4 billion.