Resurgent Sportingbet targets a main stock listing
Sportingbet today confirmed plans to move its shares from the Alternative Investment Market to the main market in London next month.
Shares in the online gaming company, which traded at little over 20p less than two years ago, rose 1½p to 75½p, valuing it at more than £370 million.
That could be enough to see it enter the FTSE 250, where a handful of firms are worth less than £300 million.
It marked another significant step for the online betting industry, which has recovered strongly since a draconian clampdown on its activities in the US in 2006.
The internet has led to an explosion in betting technology and numbers of punters.
Sportingbet, which posted a 7% rise in profits last month and takes 90% of its bets in Europe, is hoping for a boost in turnover from the football World Cup in South Africa this summer.
It also hopes to attract new investors by listing on the main market around May 14.
"The official list is the most appropriate platform for the continued growth of the group by increasing Sportingbet's profile, assisting in the liquidity of the company's shares and providing a greater range of potential investors," it said.
