Sportech In Deal To Sell The Football Pools

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Sep 16, 2016

Consideration of GBP 97.25 million agreed in management buy-out

In an advisory notice to the London stock exchange Tuesday Sportech plc revealed that it has entered into exclusivity with Burlywood Capital LLP on the proposed sale of its subsidiary The Football Pools for a total cash consideration of GBP 97.25 million on a debt free/cash free basis.
Burlywood's management team proposes to apply for admission to trading on AIM of a new company incorporated for the purposes of acquiring The Football Pools, and to finance the acquisition of the business through a combination of equity from institutional investors and a new debt facility, for which a credit committee approved term sheet for up to GBP 30 million has been received.
The agreement of sale is subject to, amongst other things, the necessary equity being raised, final agreement of the sale and debt documentation and, in view of its size, the approval of Sportech shareholders.
The Board of Sportech has endorsed the deal, saying it believes that it represents an attractive opportunity to realise the value of The Football Pools following the implementation of its modernisation program.
The proposed directors of the AIM quoted company which would acquire The Football Pools business are Ian Hogg (Chairman), Conleth Byrne (Chief Executive and current Managing Director of The Football Pools), Carl Lynn (Chief Financial Officer and current Finance Director of The Football Pools), Brian Mattingley (Non-Executive Director) and Liz Catchpole (Non-Executive Director).

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Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.