Member Info for JohnLewis79

Morning Bruce. Sunday Times team have selected GVC as one of their Co. Not great last year overall down 16% because of oil stock Genel (-76%).

alexia 93 where are you going to pick up a steady £12-16m ebita for perhaps 5-7x earnings not to mention GP of 40%! Those earnings have been rock solid for years and could be massively improved with a switched on management not to mention cross selling opportunities! You would know how good your management is and whether they are capable of sweating the assets, I don't know but T.Sagi does and he wants the Pools. Hope it turns out well for you guys.

Tell this Cameron guy to shut the F up!!

To all Spo holders this year will be much much better for the Co with lots to look forward too not least the vat business if they can ever get the case heard and another case over the pond could have a huge impact on the Co's fortunes, the FanDuel v the NY Attorney General. Of course prime concern is the sale of the Pools of which we know little about the 'nuts & bolts' details.For instance would we be selling the Pools if we had won the vat case? ii) What if we sell the Pools and then the vat is returned in our favour? Lots of niggling doubts about the sales process but I suppose thats what we pay the board to achieve on our behalf? Let's hope they won't undersell ebita of £16m with GP 40%+!!

Opened at 63 so closing c8% down on the year (my best one!) but lagging the small cap index (+6%) by some way!

Morning Bruce, possibly some sort of mm code? or were those1 trades? I remember the first share i bought my father lent me £20.2.6p to buy shares in Westminster Bank I think it was back in the early 60's, HSBC was paying me £8 a week and bowlers were de rigueur, rent was £2 per week in a bed sit and a pint less than a shilling!! Off topic a bit the small trade reminded me of my first foray into the market.

Still private and a sure fire candidate for a float at some time. Still based in Stoke I think. I thought at one time they might be interested in reversing into Sportech which would give us a strong on line prescence and Bet 365 a worldwide playground. I guess terms might be sticky but imo would be a good fit. Looks a busted flush now as B365 might look to partner a pure on line retailer (888) and Spo perhaps just a league above their management capabilities? We may be worth peanuts but Spo is a large Co in terms of spread of interests (Racing, Venues, Pools, Fantasy Sports & on line betting) with offices in the US & Europe and now spreading across the Far East our meagre mrk cap belies the true strength of the Co. We know this let's hope the others do as well!

Cut off date will probably be close of business on Friday 15th, unless an extension granted? I'm sure interested parties have had ample time to prepare their various bids but you never know in bid scenarios! I see PH have reiterated their sp forecast of 79 but no mention whether this inc the Pools or not!....suspect it does. Ex the Pools what price? I think we should be told! Let's say worst way we accept £70m which goes straight to the bottom line is this at 5x ebita fair value? I'd say yes, a bird in the hand...etc. So fair value (we gain an immediate c 35p and lose out on £15m or c 7.45p) but not great value.

I sure did comeonvog! Near 5% might get an rns re beneficial owner?

Netplay joined (so far) by 3 others.

No public transport!! Backed a couple of winners so paid for the days excs (2 losers & drinks). I'd be happy to hold your 3 gaming shares particularly while int rates & inflation are so low. Some might say your over represented in the sector but why sell out of shares that I take it are performing well for you? I know i would not! Do you think someone may come along and spoil the Pools party with a cheeky bid for the whole company? How good would that be!!? If your going to spend £100m for the Pools why not buy the rest with a 50/50 chance of winning £94m plus into the bargain?

Lots in w/end press re Sads & Corals tie up. Sads now in dispute with the Horse Racing Levy Board over sponsorship being funneled back into racing and the racing levy. Mullen says if Sads is barred from partnerships the Co will be forced to divert funds into other sports locking up the money for years. At the heart of the matter is the £30m per annum that the bookies are not required to pay on lucrative offshore bets, which the HRLB views as coming to them. Set to run & run. Mullen has got his work cut out to reposition Sads without the worries of the Coral merger and the competition authorities breathing down his kneck. With the gambling tax on on line bets at 15%, the 20% duty on gaming machines and restrictions on stakes on fixed odds machines who would want shares in the trad bookies? The story this year will be Sportech and perhaps one or two of the div 2 bookmakers but not Sads or WH.

Consencus from all I have read is that £100m is the ball park figure or 50pps for the Pools. That means our US operation the Racing & Digital & Venues is worth 8pps or £16m! I'd go so far to say that our 30% stake in DraftDay is worth more than that and don't forget it was for nil consideration! I would liken FS as the US version of the Pools circa the 1960's!! Until the court case is resolved it has nil value. So the rest of the Co is valued at zero or minus zero if possible. Consider the years of building a reputation, of commercial tie-ups, of having our technology used all over the world our highly regulated licenses and being the favoured partner in the US leisure sector, all this for peanuts! What would that cost to set up from scratch? Ridiculously cheap even without the vat monies. Someone is missing a trick here! No doubt the bod have been pressured by the iis over the low share price and underachievement over the years so have readied us as a prime takeover target. On reflection selling the Pools and then expanding our US prescence is favourite as I doubt we would get fair value for our US operations. However a move to the US will require board changes and some new young blood to take the Co forward in 2020's. I think that is right for the business.

Oh yes..... im sure!!....(our shares), your Xmas sounds a lot more romantic than here...(it's raining in London) dreary and quite cold......brrrrrrrh!!!! Thinking of going to Kempton races tomorrow for the Box Day meet, weather permitting? Off to bed...i can tolerate only so much....Downton Abbey & the ilk!!

Morning Bruce and a very happy Xmas to you and family. Do you lay out the traditional fare for Christmas, or give it a miss? I'll be on my own so i shall be having Toulouse sausages and mash swilled down with a bottle of Chateau neuf followed by Chablis with the cheese. Nice and simple and will ensure I sleep through the turgid tv of today. I guess you bought Spo jus before the last vat decision when most thought Spo would win? I added a few around that price but my avc is way lower as I retained some of my Roding exchange shares back in (2000?). To be honest Bruce I can't see Spo back to that level in the short term and without a full bid and winning the vat...... and would we retain the vat monies if we sold off the Pools which I'm assuming also contains STB? Have Spo advised bidding cos that they buy STB on the understanding that they receive the vat winnings but must pay us £X up front or any combination of the above? Perhaps STB is separate to the Pools and we shoulder the risk? All will be revealed shortly. Off to peel a few spuds decant the CNDeP.... should have done that last night, then off to pub for a few hours. Speak soon JL.

Xmas and profitable New Year to all invested here. A trying year, so perhaps things will turn for the better come January?

Huge indifference being shown by the market with the prospect of a £100m deal going through. Perhaps it's too small to bother with? The shares have barely moved on the news that Netplay were interested and now that 3 others have joined it's almost a racing certainty that one of them will succeed. CG should have the 'inside rail' of knowing how high SPO valued the Pools business and must have the cash to acquire the Pools. On that score they might be the fav but I suspect Netplay with T.Sagi behind them will come out ahead leaving it to the last minute to deliver a knockout blow (full take over?)

The first coupons were sold outside Man United football ground back in the day we'll before Viv 'spend spend' Nicholson became the Pools most famous winner! Still time for the 'walkout loser' Van Gal to throw his hat into the ring before he gets booted out for lousy buys. You will get better value from Sportech Louis!

Good Morning Bruce, always a pleasure to converse with a kindred spirit! It looks as though a quartet of potential buyers are interested in buying the Football Pools. A management buy-in approach has been made by Ian Hogg former Chief Operating Officer who is backed by Burlywood Capital an investment firm headed by D.Michaels former Hilton Hotels chief. CG are reportedly back showing an interest. Lastly an American private equity fund is said to be interested as well. Spo advised by Investec said "it would determine whether it is in the best interests of shareholders to proceed with the sale" No mention of the take out price but between 4 bidders someone will overpay to ensure of winning......please!

Yes seen it, if it's the one re: interested parties. Graph seems to do nothing but flatling or has done so for years apart from the odd spikes up or down (lost vat appeal). Should we get c £70m+ or say 35pps I doubt the sp will increase greatly, perhaps 5p as the market will price in the loss of our main profit driver despite the cash in the kitty which let's face it bods in the past have miss - spent. The only way shareholders will realise full value is the sale of the whole company and while this is still possible I'm beginning to think it's perhaps a 60/40 shot. However still plenty of time. If i was a bidder I'd want the whole co, our strong foothold in the Americas is much undervalued imo particularly if the FanDuel case favours the FS gaming companies! Next year might well prove transformational to Spo holders the market has priced us to fail, I think the board may surprise us yet! Have a good one and a better year for our respective holdings of which Spo has been my best performer!!!