Member Info for JohnLewis79

Well that's the $64k question. None of us know exactly what is up for sale and how much of our c £60M debt would be inc in the sale. I have posed this several times in past posts but to date noone has come up with any possibilities. I'm not expecting the sp to benefit much if at all as we will no longer have our main profit driver. Of course £100m goes straight to the bottom line in effect replacing the 8x earnings of the Pools so basically a one for one swop. We will still have £60M debt less any that was apportioned to the Hogg consortium so whether we pay that off immediately or cont to carry I don't know. Of course the vat has a bearing on matters whether it's a separate co or part of the Pools I don't know. Once again the bidder might want a % of the vat monies. It's a confused situation and all speculation on my part. Other considerations will be the equity capital owned by the respective cos... ie how will the 200m shares outstanding be divided? Will Walton House be part of the deal? I take it that all the Pools managers will be employed by Hogg leaving us to relocate to the US at sometime late 16 early 17? However the pie is divided up its good for Spo holders as long as the bod are prepared to focus solely on expansion in the US where even a Nasdq or Ofex quote is likely when all the dust has settled. Hopefully not too long to wait!

Set to report a whacking £50m loss for the year ( shares will soar) after a huge write down on its betting shop estate, the poc tax and FOBT's come under further scrutiny. The poc tax raises £300m a year for the Treasury so that tax won't be going anywhere else soon! WH issued a profit warning earlier this year and has since complained to the CMA about the merger affecting competition, nothing to do with Sads/Corals leap frogging them into top bookie spot, I guess? Only light I can see is the Euro football competition coming up but as punters switch to the Internet the comp will be ferocious for every pound staked. Only one real winner there and that's Power Bet!

Has been granted preferred bidder status in the race to acquire the Pools. Sources say he is prepared to pay c £100m and gas the backing of Cenkos Securities and presumably HG & R Griffiths? Hoggs consortium has been given time to prove they can finance the t/o but no mention of how long this may take. Whatever happened to having the money in place prior to bidding? I dunno I must be old fashioned I usually have the money in my pocket if I want a pint.

Will kill a share.....trust me I know! At this rate we will be pretty much valued at our vat monies (£94m ) and rising! A few years ago I'd have said that was an impossibility (cos valued at cash) but not nowdays!

Guess this is in the normal course of business what with Spo trying to reduce the collector network 'n all. Never wrong to slim down the workforce it's a big % of ongoing costs c 20%!

Morning Bruce...DK is the US no 2 FS games co who are looking to diversify away from the over regulated and in some states downright hostile legal attitude towards sports gambling. The UK is much more accommodating license permitting of course.

Morning bags, the volumes certainly don't warrant the drop from 57/8 to current so most likely jobbers mucking about. In fact think bvs today favoured buys and the stock fell....nothing new there these days! Goodness knows what's delaying an announcement re the Pools? It's almost as bad as some oily stocks I know where bodsare incapable of making a decision orare terrified of dropping a clanger or don't know what they are doing or just plain bloody incompetent? I know one that is a mix of all three and the sp confirms my view. Agreed the additional 10 nos on the lottery has been a PR disaster. I have stopped playing now and DK have seen an opportunity in the UK to leverage some of the lottery & pools disaffected dropouts. I'm surprised DK were not one of the bidders as the FG sector would be a natural fit with spb/pools. I wouldn't mind betting it's the legal boys holding things up....wonder why? Tick tock, tick tock.....

Massive promotion for DraftKings in UK sports pages where you have a choice of 11 sports contests to enjoy. On NFL weekends DK guarantee a $1 million will be paid out to at least one player every week! A great add on to the Pools whoever lands up buying them.....or not!?

Heh....maybe they are trying to drag this out to April 3/4? Wonder whether we might now be considering keeping the Pools and buying out DraftDay and amalgamating the two into a large fantasy games operation to take on the big two? Too late now perhaps but an early morning mull?

Dec 24th Sportech announced the start of the auction process, here we are 11th Feb & still no news! What on earth is taking so long? Perhaps the iis are quibbling over price? Whatever.... nothing will be signed off unless HG agree the terms that's for sure!

Going the right way atm...the $ index has fallen 3% this week. Analysts are calling the massive $ rise these last few years...over and may go into reverse as the Fed will curtail int rate rises should the US economy falter in the face of global pressures? Should help Zam.

Hi Bruce. Definitely the two best stocks in the Gaming sector absolutely core holdings for any portfolio! Shame I ain't got none! Had a very pleasant day yesterday arranged to meet another Sphere investor and Palace fan for drinks in Surbiton. Never met before and lo & behold he'd spent many years in the Far East, Singapore & Malaya so you can imagine we had a great time swapping stories and reminiscing. I was out there 10 years before him but things hadn't changed that much. How weird was that both of us knowing the same places, hotels and bars? Only spoiler was Sphere that didn't budge on the day! Oh well I'm well & truly locked in there but keeping the faith. Speak soon JL.

DraftKings are planning a UK launch in the near future following marketing tie-ups with Liverpool, Arsenal & Watford. This will be the first time DK has moved outside it's home market and the FS games will be based on the football Premiership. Music to Sportech's ears! Dear oh dear!

Careful comeonvog....av down? Very dodgy but at this sp nothing to lose short term. I can talk I'm the original av down artist par excellence and look where that's got me! Still in here with 25k at 13 nett....one of my better ones! Happy to hold this year though wish i had a better understanding of the geo politics stuff and economics of the agri business in Zam. I struggle to understand the 3 others i have, so what's to worry about?

Yes... they will have to buy in, very good for GVC LT. Where you been?

Nice boost to 511 on joining the main market!

Finn Cap has been appointed as sole broker with immediate effect. They did sfa for another co I'm invested in and in fact they were given their marching orders a few weeks ago. Might be some initial interest if they punt the stock to clients?

We would welcome news this week on the state of play. Has the Pools been sold or not? If they closed the bids in mid Jan the bod will have had 3+ weeks to assess the 3 competing offers, enough time surely? Gut feeling somebody has matched our valuation, but quibbles over vat/ debt may be slowing the process?

Two Hoosier law makers have advised FD & DK to move their head quarters from NY state to Indiana where they would be welcomed. Indiana sees the attractions of a regulated tax paying and job creating company being domiciled there.

I suspect all money transactions are done "in house" thus will not be affected by the Vantiv decision. Let's hope so!