Sportech Share Discussion Threads

[nod] 18/8/2015 11:32

It is hard to imagine how the major investors could make money out of a magicians trick. They would all have to be complicit in a concert party - which is not legal.

[ganthorpe] 18/8/2015 11:03

Surely Contagious is the sprat trying to swallow the whale?
Much smaller is a serious understatement, it is about 15 times smaller than Sportech.
They will need a lot of smoke and mirrors , and a lot od co-operation from SPO.
Nothing behind the smoke and mirrors?

[stephen1946] 15/8/2015 07:45

smoke and mirrors, a penrose speciality. AVOID.

[nod] 15/8/2015 06:26

Contagious, with a market capitalisation of 18 million Canadian dollars (£8.9m), is much smaller than Sportech, which was valued at £143.6m on Friday night.Henderson hold 28% of shares in SPO (see 26 March RNS). Other major shareholders include Trevor Hemmings (17%), Richard Griffiths, AXA, Schroders, Aviva, and other instis. I don't think they will be happy to sell SPO cheap.Contagious would need to offer close to 200 million imho. Contagious has the Goal Time lottery deal with the Mirror.

[utterly pointless] 14/8/2015 15:50

I agree. The average price over the last month is more like 68p. Even at par, if you give up half of an (I personally think) 75% chance of £97m you have to expect a decent premium over 70p for it. That's the way I'm thinking anyway. But then I don't really want this deal because I'm very bullish about the £97m.

[finkie] 14/8/2015 15:47

yep on iii in the news section contagious gaming MAY bid for spo at above current share price if they can raise the money, nice rise today but a speculative potential bid at this stage clearly we would also get 50% of the vat loot when that case settles in November if takeover proceeds.......presume they are confident of that and it reduces overall costs...?!

[trentendboy] 14/8/2015 15:46

Very good. The deal on spot the ball makes sense. I assume they can work it out fairly.

What price will they offer?

I would have thought given spit the ball odds that they would need to offer around 80 or 90 pence

[utterly pointless] 14/8/2015 15:03

anyone been able to find the media speculation referred to?

[intermale] 14/8/2015 14:42

TAKEOVER NEWS

[nod] 23/7/2015 21:23

The USD GBP exchange rate is quite important for SPO at the period end. It was much higher on 30 June 2015 at 0.65 compared with 30 June 2014 at 0.58 ... 12% higher this year

[nod] 23/7/2015 09:58

Sportech PLC, one of the world's leading pools and tote betting organisations, confirms that its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2015 will be announced on Thursday 20 August 2015.The Company will hold a presentation for analysts at 09.30am on Thursday 20 August, with refreshments served from 9:00am

[nod] 09/7/2015 13:04

It is not an easy decision and that's why the FTT and the UT have arrived at different conclusions. I have just read all the judge's comments again and would disagree with some of his analogies. It is clear to me that Spot the Ball is a game of chance - a lottery. In my early 20's I used to play Spot the Ball and it was just a game of chance. A precursor to the lottery which made these games defunct because they are so similar. I never saw Spot the Ball as a competition that required any skill. It was like picking the lottery numbers or picking a number on the roulette wheel. It was not like betting on a game of skill such as poker.It was made known that the fictitious location of the ball in the photo would be decided - in the future - by a former footballer. I cannot see how this game is a competition or a game of skill. It is pure luck. I did not compete against the former footballer. The judge focuses on one entry whereas the cost of entry (per cross) was very low and we would have multiple attempts. Just like throwing ten darts at the photo. It is a game just like a video shooter game on a console is a game. The difference back in the 70's was that we had to wait a week until we knew whether we hit the target :)

[utterly pointless] 09/7/2015 06:52

Apologies. You're right about spot the ball - but you don't have it quite right about the decisions. The issue in contention before the FTT was whether it was a game of *skill*. But the UT found against the taxpayers because it wasn't a *game* of skill (have a read of the decision). And that's why I think the Rank decision is relevant.

[nod] 09/7/2015 00:57

UP, the VAT claim is for Spot the Ball and not for Football Pools. The key word in the decision appears to be "skill". If you put a cross on the extract centre of the ball to a fraction of a millimetre is that skill or luck? The First Tier Tribunal FTT believe it is luck and ruled twice in SPOs favour. The Upper TT concluded it is skill and ruled in HMRCs favour. A factor in the decisions relates to how the ball is placed as it is not actually on the original photos. A panel of judges - one person - placed the ball on the photo. Because it is a 'panel' then it theoretically becomes a game of skill to agree with the panel as to where the precise centre of the ball is. To me this is pure luck. However, Littlewoods and Sportech always advertised Spot the Ball as a game of skill. The FTT and Upper Tribunal disagree with each other. It's 1-1 and we are in extra time with the match to be decided by a golden goal.

[utterly pointless] 08/7/2015 10:13

Worth reading this: hxxps://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2013-0257-judgment.pdf The Supreme Court has just happily described slot machines as "a game of chance". Difficult, in that light, to see how the Upper Tribunal could be right to say that playing the football pools is not a "game".

[intermale] 28/6/2015 10:59

Very disappointing performance, I thought a quid would be history by now, its the words " football pools" which kill us I guess?

[stephen1946] 28/6/2015 09:33

how?? just where are all the benefits from 15 years existence?? apart obviously, from the huge wads our glorious Board have been collecting.

[intermale] 28/6/2015 08:38

Didn`t help

[nod] 28/6/2015 03:37

Richard Griffiths has taken his Sportech holding to over 8%He has been a long time in SPO.Mr. Richard Ian Griffiths (age 47) is the Executive Chairman at ORA Capital Partners Ltd. Previously, he served as the President at the firm until October 2005. Mr. Griffiths was the Chairman and Founder of Evolution Securities Limited in 2000. Mr. Griffiths served as the Chairman of Beeson Gregory Group PLC. since January 30, 2003 and served as an Executive Director. Mr. Griffiths served as a Joint Investment Manager at Marlborough Fund Managers Limited. Mr. Griffiths served as the Chairman of Evolution Group PLC from January 30, 2003 to October 25, 2005 and its Director from March 2001 to October 25, 2005. He has been a Director of a number of private and publicly owned companies. He served as Chairman of the Board at ORA Capital Partners Ltd. since November 07, 2005. Mr. Griffiths has been a Director of Evolution Group PLC, since March 2001 and chairs its Nominations Committee. Mr. Griffiths joined Evolution Group upon its acquisition of Evolution Capital in March 2001. He has extensive experience of company management, equity capital markets, corporate finance and restructurings, equity sales and trading and has also been an active investor in small and emerging companies, often in turnaround situations. He is a graduate from University of Leeds in Economics.He currently owns 17% of Euromax Resources a Canadian listed company with a volatile share price and current market cap of $60 million.Former ChairmanBeeson Gregory Group LimitedExecutive PresidentEvolution Securities Limited2001-2005Former Chairman and Chairman of Nominations CommitteeThe Evolution Group Limited2005-PresentExecutive ChairmanORA Capital Partners Ltd.

[nod] 26/6/2015 05:12

Betfred enhances Totepool betting systems with SportechSportech got plenty of press publicity from the Betfred roll-out and the shares have ticked up to a 9-month high -- recovering some of the loss following the VAT decision.This multi-phase project with Betfred was signed last July. This Quantum system roll-out is the first project deliverable with more exciting leading-edge developments to be implemented in the coming phases. The new digital and self-service technologies to be deployed in subsequent phases will significantly enhance the customer experience at a racecourse, online and on mobile devices.

[nod] 13/6/2015 04:05

RANDOM OUTCOME USA INC. was incorporated in Delaware on 8 June 2015 number 5762201So it appears to have happened quite quickly.The sale by MGT is subject to RO getting finance. I wonder if SPO is taking a share in the RO venture?

[nod] 13/6/2015 03:28

HARRISON, N.Y., June 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MGT) announced today that it has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to sell its daily fantasy sports assets including DraftDay, the third largest operator in the daily fantasy sports industry, together with the MGT Sports business-to-business network. The transaction will provide MGT with approximately $7.0 million in total consideration, including $4.0 million cash; MGT will also retain an equity interest in the new venture (including common stock and warrants), with an initial valuation of up to $3.0 million. Subject to financing and other closing conditions, the Company expects the deal to close before the end of the current quarter.Random Outcome USA Inc., the new entity formed to acquire DraftDay, will raise funds from investors led by a global investment bank that is a leader in the gaming industry in North America. Following its planned financing, the new business will be managed by Sportech Digital, a subsidiary of Sportech Plc (LON: SPO), one of the world's leading B2B organizations in the sports, gaming and technology sectors, having operated in the regulated gaming sector for over 90 years. Curtiss Wm. Krawetz, CEO of Random Outcome said, "Infusing a leading daily fantasy sports business with the capabilities and resources of an operator of Sportech's caliber creates the dominant business-to-business player in the DFS space."Rich Roberts, President of Sportech Digital stated, "A focused daily fantasy sports business to be delivered on a B2B partnership basis to the regulated gaming industry has the potential to quickly disrupt the rapidly growing market.""Today's announcement reinforces our mandate to grow stockholder value," said Robert Ladd, Chief Executive Officer of MGT. "DraftDay could not be going into better hands, and we firmly believe our residual interest will undergo enormous appreciation under Sportech's leadership, relationships and access to capital."

[finkie] 09/6/2015 13:45

teeny weeny attempt at a breakout earlier 69-72 is high for this share over last few months so maybe nothing but it would be nice to settle in mid 70's for a while........

[nod] 30/5/2015 02:36

Liverpool EchoSportech, the Walton-based football pools to horse race betting group, has made almost £9m in profit on the sale of its stake in a gaming business.The firm sold its 50% share in Sportech-NYX Gaming to its joint venture partner NYX Social Gaming LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NYX Gaming Group, the Toronto-listed online gaming content and technology provider, for £12m, subject to regulatory approval.It is expected to generate an estimated pre-tax profit on its investment of £8.8m.As part of the deal Sportech will receive 2.2m NYX shares, worth around £5.2m, and representing a 6.1% stake in the company.Sportech says the sale was driven by opportunities across the North American sports gaming and technology market.Proceeds from the disposal will enable it to accelerate its near-term development plans while retaining a material interest in casino and poker online gaming through its stake in NYX.Sportech chief executive Ian Penrose said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with NYX, generating a significant return for the group in a short space of time."The structure of the deal enables us to reinvest in our US growth activities in the sports gaming market, while retaining a material stake in the future of online casino gaming in North America.