Sky Sells Off Controlling Stake in Online Betting & Gaming Business

LONDON: Sky has agreed to sell a controlling stake in its online betting and gaming business, Sky Betting & Gaming, to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners.

Sky will receive cash of £600 million ($939 million) on completion and further deferred and contingent consideration up to the value of £120 million ($188 million). The total value of £800 million ($1.25 billion) represents a multiple of approximately 15 times EBITDA for the 12 months ended June 30. Sky will retain an equity stake of approximately 20 percent in Sky Bet and ongoing board representation. As part of the transaction Sky has also entered into a long-term brand license agreement with Sky Bet.

The Sky Bet management team, led by Richard Flint as managing director, will remain with the business under the new ownership structure with all Sky Bet’s employees moving across into the new entity. The business will remain headquartered in Leeds. The transaction is subject to regulatory clearances in the U.K. and Ireland and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015. 

Jeremy Darroch, the group chief executive of Sky, said: “In the last ten years, we have successfully grown Sky Bet from a start-up to one of the leading online betting and gaming companies in the UK. This transaction will allow us to focus further on the substantial growth opportunities in our core international pay-TV business while realising significant value for our shareholders.”