Bet Direct for sale?

[jetset]

SALE OF BETDIRECT UNDER NEGOTIATION

32Red subsidiary may be acquired by Irish group

The Gibraltar-based quality sportsbook Bet Direct.com may be acquired by an as yet unidentified company, owners 32 Red plc have confirmed following rumours of negotiations earlier this week....and judging by industry personnel movements reported lately, the buyer may be Irish company Boyle Sports, although that has yet to be clarified.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, 32Red said that following “recent press speculation” it could confirm it was “in discussions concerning a potential sale” without disclosing who the other party was.

Sportech sold Bet Direct to 32Red a little over 18 months ago for a reported GBP 12.5 million, and according to the latest company reports the company has over 46 000 active customers generating gross win revenues of GBP 3.5 million. Over the past year, over 11 000 new clients were signed up.

The downside was that poor trading conditions, which are currently improving, slowed performance, resulting in a pre-tax loss of GBP 3.7 million.

Prior to its sale to 32Red, according to company reports from that time, Bet Direct - then owned by Sportech - produced operating losses of GBP 4.8 million in the year to the end of December 2005 on turnover of GBP 143 million.