Online Gambling Operator SkyBet Plans Public Listing On LSE

Sky Betting & Gaming, better known as ‘SkyBet‘ has plans to go public and list the company on the London Stock Exchange.

Rumors of this plan can be traced to reports that CVC Capital Planners, the company with an 80 percent stake in SkyBet has contacted the Rothschild investment bank to assist them with listing opportunities.

Sky a broadcasting company in the United Kingdom founded SkyBet in 2011. Sky sold 80 percent of the company in 2014 to CVC for £800 million and retains a 20 percent stake. Rothschild has now valued SkyBet to be between £2.5 billion and £3 billion.

SkyBet is an online gambling operator who has experienced significant growth in recent years. This was clearly seen in the financial report that was released in the middle of 2017. The gambling operator reduced its pre-tax loss to just £3 million which was a major achievement as the loss in 2016 stood at £37.8 million. The company generated £373.6 million in 2016 but did really well in 2017 as revenues climbed to £515.8 million.

SkyBet has consistently posted an increase in revenues with every passing year and the company has also expanded its services into multiple markets during the past few years. Thanks to Sky's purchase of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia in 2014, SkyBet had access to the German and Italian market. The company launched operations in Italy in 2017 and has plans to enter the German market in the coming months. The company has also done very well it’s the United Kingdom.

SkyBet's growth has been driven by the increasing popularity of online gambling in the UK market. Gaming analysts have stated that online gambling makes up a third of the gambling market in the country and SkyBet has a significant share of this online gambling market. SkyBet has made a number of critical decisions in recent times and while some of them appeared controversial, it ended up working out well for the company.

SkyBet decided to shut down its affiliate program and terminate all affiliate contracts. This was a major move for the company as affiliates are known to be key drivers of online poker traffic. The company will continue to make changes in the coming months as the UK Gambling Commission is expected to make online gambling regulations more stringent as the commission looks to reduce problem gambling in the country. Once SkyBet proceeds with its London Stock Exchange listing, the company will have to be extra careful to ensure that it fully complies with all gaming laws in the country.