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Mark Blandford, the founder of the online betting group Sportingbet, yesterday raised 😄 £6.5m from selling nearly 17 per cent of his stake in the business.
Mark Blandford, the founder of the online betting 😄 group Sportingbet, yesterday raised £6.5m from selling nearly 17 per cent of his stake in the business.
Mr Blandford said, however, 😄 that he remained committed to the company and had sold some of his holding in Sportingbet only as a means 😄 to spread the risk of his personal assets.
"I have had more than 90 per cent of my wealth tied up 😄 in one company for more than eight years. This is just a tiny readjustment of my assets. I am still 😄 absolutely committed to Sportingbet and its continued success," he said.
Mr Blandford still owns 4 per cent of Sportingbet, currently worth 😄 around £34m, but has cashed in on the dramatic rise in Sportingbet's share prices over the past six months. Since 😄 buying Paradise Poker, the online poker business, shares in Sportingbet have raced to highs of 349p from 100p, valuing the 😄 company at £1.1bn. Had Mr Blandford sold the same number of shares last month, he would have made nearly £9m. 😄 "I've learnt that no one ever quite manages to sell at the top and buy at the bottom. I am 😄 contented with the price I got."
The online poker industry is experiencing phenomenal growth, bringing in millions in revenues, and a 😄 number of other online poker businesses are lining up to float in London. Party Gaming, behind the PartyPoker brand, could 😄 be worth as much as £3bn when it lists.
Sportingbet shares have fallen back to around 260p in the past month, 😄 on fears that the revenues generated from online poker have been inflated. Mr Blandford denied, however, that his share sale 😄 was a sign of imminent bad news. Yesterday the shares closed down 8.5p at 261p.
Sportingbet floated in January 2001 at 😄 120p. Mr Blandford sold 2.2 million shares this time last year for £1.6m when the shares were at 76p, and 😄 in 2003 he made £2.5m from selling shares at 31p.
