Sky to sell off Sky Bet to CVC Capital Partners in £800m deal
Sky has agreed to sell online betting and gaming company Sky Bet to CVC Capital Partners in a deal valued at around £800m.
The sale will see Sky receive £600m in cash, with a further deferred consideration of up to £120m. Sky will also retain an equity stake in the business of around 20 per cent, while it has also entered into a long-term brand licence agreement for it to retain the Sky Bet name.
The management team, led by Richard Flint, managing director of Sky Bet, will remain in place, as will its headquarters in Leeds.
Jeremy Darroch, group chief executive of Sky, said: "In the last ten years, we have successfully grown Sky Bet from a start-up to one of the leading online betting and gaming companies in the UK. This transaction will allow us to focus further on the substantial growth opportunities in our core international pay TV business while realising significant value for our shareholders."
The deal of the 13 year-old company is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2015, with Goldman Sachs International acting for Sky as financial adviser.