Betfair shareholders Edward Wray and Bernard Arnault pocket £260 million after sell-off

Betfair co-founder Edward Wray and LVMH billionaire Bernard Arnault are £260 million richer after selling off a bigger-than-expected slice of the betting exchange, which is merging with Paddy Power.

Wray, the former JPMorgan banker who founded Betfair in 2000 with Andrew Black, sold three million shares in the company yesterday — more than a third of his 9.5% stake — in a placing landing him £97.5 million.

Wealth-management firm Le Peigné, which manages money for Arnault and his family, sold five million shares worth £162.5 million.

The two deals mean Betfair’s two largest individual shareholders — accounting for 18% of the shares between them — have reduced their combined stake by almost half.

The huge demand for the stock from institutional investors ahead of the creation of Paddy Power Betfair — a £6 billion behemoth of the online-gambling world — meant that Wray and Le Peigné sold more than the 7.35 million shares pencilled in by bookrunner Barclays yesterday.

Shares in Betfair dropped nearly 3%, or 89.5p, today to 3277.50p, close to the £32.50 placing price.

But both sellers “remain very supportive of Betfair and its proposed merger with Paddy Power and have agreed to lock up those shares not sold in the placing for 90 days from the closing of the placing”, Barclays said.

The merger will propel the business straight into the FTSE 100 when it is completed next year.

Management believe they can save at least £50 million a year through the combination.

Israeli gaming-software multi-millionaire Teddy Sagi’s latest acquisition has been thwarted for now by Ireland’s central bank, which blocked Playtech’s $105 million (£69.3 million) move for contracts-for-difference broker Ava Trade. Playtech intends to formally challenge the decision.