<p><strong>The owners of gambling superpower bet365 are considering a £9 billion sale of the firm amid interest from the United States.</strong></p>
<p>The company has held talks with Wall Street banks and US advisers over the last few weeks regarding a full or partial sale that could fetch the upper echelons of a ten-figure sum.</p>
<p>The Guardian reported bet365 have explored a range of options such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Medium-term plan to float the business on a US stock exchange</li>
<li>Partial sale to a private equity investor</li>
<li>Pre-float stake to private equity groups</li>
</ul>
<p>Bet365 recently announced it will be leaving Asian markets such as China – where betting is illegal – and intends to place more of its focus on <a href=”https://gamblingindustrynews.com/online-casinos/”>US online casino</a> operations.</p>
<p>It applied for a license to operate in the state of New York four years ago and upon that, the company told authorities it had no plans to sell, merge or go public.</p>
<p>There looks to have been a change of heart and bet365, one of the globe’s top names in <a href=”https://gamblingindustrynews.com/betting/”>sports betting</a>, now operates in 13 different states across America.</p>
<h2>Who Owns Bet365?</h2>
<p>Bet365 was founded by Denise Coates, who remains the majority shareholder and joint-chief executive alongside her brother John.</p>
<p>Coates has an estimated net worth of £9.5 billion and is Britain’s richest woman according to the Sunday Times.</p>
<h2>When Was Bet365 Founded?</h2>
<p>The company was founded in 2000 when Denise Coates purchased the domain name bet365.com from eBay for $25,000. It started off with 12 employees and that number has since grown to 9,000.</p>
<p>It was launched in 2001 as an online betting site. Denise’s family, mainly her father Peter, ran Provincial Racing which owned a small chain of shops from the 1970s through to the mid-2000s.</p>
<p>Denise was made managing director of Provincial Racing in 1995 and borrowed £15 million from RBS against the business to kickstart bet365 – those Provincial shops were later sold to Coral for £40 million in 2005.</p>
<h2>How Much Profit Did Bet365 Make Last Year?</h2>
<p>For the financial year ending March 2024, bet365 reported a £396.6 million profit from sports and gaming.</p>
<p>The company also enjoyed a 9% rise in group revenue, reaching £3.72 billion. Coates received a package of £94.7 million for this period, down from £221 million the previous year.</p>
<h2>Why Is Bet365 Being Sold?</h2>
<p>Some believe a reason to sell could be bet365’s rapidly decreasing market share. Experts have warned the firm are only managing to grow at single digits in a double-digit growth environment.</p>
<p>Regulus believes the company’s stagnation stems from four different roadblocks:</p>
<ul>
<li>Competitor in-play catch-up</li>
<li>Slower adoption of mass market multiples, bet builder bets</li>
<li>Inability to capitalise on post-pandemic gaming growth</li>
<li>Decline in VIP, grey market contributions</li>
</ul>
<p>Bet365 transferred ownership of Stoke City Football Club to Denise’s brother John last August and all the signs are adding up to a potential sale of the betting giant.</p>
<p>Denise could be looking for an exit from the game at the age of 57 to reduce her day-to-day duties – she has no natural family successor and a sale looks like the ideal way out.</p>
<p>She owns over 50% of the business and a full sale could see her pocket around £5 billion, certainly not a bad way to call it a day.</p>
Bet365 Owner Denise Coates Considering £9 Billion Sale
