Betfair float valuation going low

Rival bookmaker Bodog don't mind a bit of innovative publicity, such as being first to price up who killed Archie Mitchell in EastEnders, which was then copied by several other firms. This time they have gone up with markets on the Betfair IPO valuation and the market moves are telling a story.

Initially, under £1.4bn (remember, the figure quoted in most of the press was £1.5bn, which was their valuation in 2005 when Softbank purchased 23% of the company) was priced at 8/11 with over that figure available at evens. But money has come strongly for the under, forcing it down to 1/2, then 1/3.

A Bodog spokesman said: “We have had 182 bets on the downside compared to just 22 on the upside. For a bet this niche this is quite a lot. Having a lot of experience in this industry I’m pretty certain these people will turn out to be right.

“We even had people setting up multiple accounts so they could get three bets at the maximum of £500 a bet.”

Sounds like a few ex-staff starting to hedge as their dreams of buying Ferraris are being downgraded to just a nice Jag...

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