BetGoodwin Reportedly Plans £80m London Listing as Budget Looms

^{The London Stock Exchange at Paternoster Square. BetGoodwin is reported to be weighing a listing on the exchange's junior AIM market. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)}

BetGoodwin, the online sports betting and casino operator, is reportedly preparing a London stock market listing that could value it at around £80 million. Sky News reported on 21 October that the plan is at an early stage, with no guarantee a flotation will go ahead.

The report arrives a week before the 28 October Budget, as bigger operators warn about the impact of higher duties and cut jobs. A new listing would run against the mood in a sector that has been hit by shop closures and job losses.

What Sky News Reported

Sky News understands that chief executive Julian Head and his son Ben, the chief operating officer, have been working with investment bankers on an initial public offering. City sources told the broadcaster the timing is unclear, and the flotation would take place on London's junior AIM market.

Allenby Capital is understood to have been enlisted to work on the prospective deal. Neither BetGoodwin nor Allenby commented to Sky News when approached. BetGoodwin also declined to comment when contacted by SBC News, which carried its own report of the story.

One source told Sky News that an IPO would not raise new money. The owners would probably sell down roughly 20% of their interest, which would leave the father-and-son team in control of the business after any float.

A Capital-Light Operator

BetGoodwin was founded as Goodwin Racing in 1997, a traditional high street bookmaker, before the Heads bought it in 2015. They later built a phone-betting operation and an online platform offering sports and casino betting, and the company closed its only retail shop after the pandemic.

Insiders told Sky News that revenues have been growing rapidly, with plans to expand the customer base. The company works with affiliates including Oddschecker and At The Races to drive traffic, and is understood to believe its capital-light model gives it a cost edge over much larger rivals.

SBC News, citing the Blask Index, ranked BetGoodwin the 74th-largest operator in the UK and the 66th-largest in Ireland. The older Mr Head previously owned half of Choicebet, which was sold in 2013 to Gala Coral, now part of Ladbrokes owner Entain.

Tax Pressure Frames the Plan

Sky News noted that any public listing looks counter-intuitive given the warnings about tax rises from the Chancellor, John Healey, next week. Remote Gaming Duty went up in April, and General Betting Duty is scheduled to rise in April 2027 on sports betting, except horse racing.

The same report said that Flutter Entertainment, owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, announced on Tuesday that it is cutting more than 1,000 UK jobs because of the tax increases on online gambling. Betfred, William Hill and Ladbrokes owners have also closed shops, the report added, and Bet365 has cut roles.

The Times reported this week that Machine Games Duty would rise by five percentage points to 25% at the Budget. That is lower than the industry had feared, but Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst told Sky News that any further increase would "heap more pressure on an industry already facing substantial tax rises".

Casinos.com could not independently confirm the flotation plans, which rest on unnamed City sources. Readers can see Sky News's original report for the full detail, and we will update this article if BetGoodwin or its advisers confirm a deal.

For context on what the Budget could bring, see our earlier coverage of the biggest shake-up to gambling taxes announced in last year's Budget.