Will bet365 Ever Go Public?

When you think about the biggest gambling operators around the world, one of the first names that gets mentioned is bet365. They have built up an empire, growing into arguably the biggest operator in the world, with huge focus on many areas, not just in the UK.

The bet365 service stands out when you are looking at what operators have in place to offer their players. If you look at any comprehensive list of betting offers, you will generally see the offer from bet365 both listed and standing out as one of the best, all in a bid to get new players on board.

This has led to the company being extremely valuable, and questions raised as to whether it will remain private or go public. If you look at other giants in the gambling industry, the likes of Flutter Entertainment, Entain (formally GVC Holdings) and William Hill, they have all gone public in the past. Will bet365 follow suit?

The Position of bet365 Within the Industry

The current private status of bet365 has allowed them to move to the top of the pile when it comes to gambling companies. Their record that takes the company up to the end of March 2019 show an annual revenue of £2.98bn, and with this in mind, you have to wonder why they would want to go private, and potentially harm that.

Growth can certainly happen to a company when they go public, but at the same time, limitations are also placed upon them, which could impact how bet365 does business in the future. The gambling industry as a whole is very competitive between companies, each trying to win over as many fans as they possibly can.

Over the past decade, more often than not on a yearly basis, bet365 have won that battle, and as the old saying goes, if it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.

Pros and Cons of Being Public

The biggest pro of going public is the new funds that would come into the company via the selling of shares. For many, it is a boost like what they have never seen before, and seen as a real stepping stone towards future growth. Gambling companies play a big part in the economy, and changes like this would make a splash with the latest economic news headlines.

However, that does come at the price of having to ensure every potential move in the future is in the public spotlight. The growth of bet365 is the envy of many others within the industry, and their growth strategy has been shielded from their competitors since their creation. A move to go public would change that, and while funds would be generated from it, they would have to give up their ability to do things as they are now, which is a lot to give up considering how successful they have been.

Pros and Cons of Being Private

We have a handful of huge operators that control most of the gambling industry. There is no doubt that bet365 is right in there amongst them as being one of the most important, if not the most important.

They have this ability to control the market and move forward but can keep all of their dealings private and when you compare them to the big public companies we have mentioned, it gives them a huge advantage over their opposition. This is a big benefit to being private, and one that would be tough for them to lose, they would certainly need to be getting a lot back to make it worthwhile.

You also have to ask the question whether bet365 need the monetary advantages of going public considering the position they are in right now. When companies have a lower value and have exhausted many avenues, going public can breathe new life into them, allowing them to move onto the next phase of their growth. This isn’t really needed with bet365, they can continue offering the service they do, growing rapidly, controlling a large share of the market and doing all of that while they remain a private company.

The Future

There are both pros and cons to each argument, and this is a decision that would make a huge difference to bet365 if they made it. However, the risk of not seeing a benefit from this is what is likely to hold them back and keep them as a private company for now.

Others have made huge strides thanks to going public, and there is certainly a strong case to be made because of the investment coming in. But bet365 may think they can get away without that, and if they can, keeping their dealings private will continue to give them the edge moving forward.