Ladbrokes shares purchased by anonymous buyer
Ladbrokes buyer?

Ladbrokes Mystery Buyer Thought to be Playtech Founder Teddy Sagi

Giant British sportsbook Ladbrokes has seen a welcome boost to their share price, after a report that a mystery buyer had snapped up GBP 37 million worth of their shares. Despite serious recent exposure, especially for their mobile sportsbook division, Ladbrokes have posted poor figures in the past six months, so this is a good piece of news for the giant bookmaker.

The rumors name the man behind the purchase as Playtech supremo Teddy Sagi, which would make complete sense. Why? Well, Playtech are the company Ladbrokes are pinning all their mobile sports betting hopes on, as they search for an upturn in revenue. Indeed, with digital revenue falling GBP 17.5 million below expected levels, there’s no doubt something needs to change, and not just Chris Kamara.

The news comes after some big shake ups over at Ladbrokes, the latest of which saw David Martin – formerly of Arriva – come in to replace John Jarvis as non-executive director. With the recent addition of NetEnt mobile casino games
to their portfolio, the company seems to be banking on the rapid rise of the mobile gambling sector.

The share purchase came under the 3% mandatory disclosure limit, but this purchase of 21.8 million shares saw prices jump up to over 188p a share, a massive rise on the 170p paid. It remains to be seen if the move will have an instant impact on the company’s bottom line, too, though.