Former Sportech COO lines-up $140m Football Pools bid
Ian Hogg and a consortium of investors among a number of potential suitors looking to acquire the asset
Former Sportech chief operating officer Ian Hogg is lining up a $140m bid to acquire the operatorâs Football Pools business, eGR North America understands. [private]
Hogg, who left Sportech in September 2014, is believed to be in the process of putting together a consortium of investors, and plans to raise the cash through a stock market flotation.
Sportech has been trying to offload the Football Pools for over a year, having turned down a $105m from GVC Holdings last year as it believed the asset was worth closer to $140m.
At the back end of last year NetPlay TV announced it was in talks with Sportech over a potential acquisition of the Football Pools, but pulled the plug on the deal just weeks later.
Sportech opened bidding on its Football Pools asset in December, and a source close to the situation today confirmed to EGR NA that management was considering around five bids, including the one from Hogg.
The source also said it would likely be âat least a couple of monthsâ before the London-based operator named its preferred bidder.
Revenues from the Football Pools fell by $3m to $24m in H1 2015, but Sportech said its plan had always been to stabilize revenues and then drive growth.
In a recent trading update, the firm said new player acquisitions via digital had increased 29% year on year to 9,000 off the back of âextensive trialsâ of new online acquisition channels.
It has been a busy year for Sportech in terms of M&A, after Canada-based Contagious Gaming moved to acquire the firm in its entirety but was unable to raise the required funds.