Sazka eyes London listing with IPO
Media reports suggest Czech lottery operator could file for listing as early as H2 2021
Czech lottery operator Sazka Group is mulling a potential listing on the London Stock Exchange, according to unconfirmed media reports.
Bloomberg reports Sazka Group owner Karel Komarek’s KKCG Group AS is in discussions with advisers on an initial public offering of the firm’s shares, something which could reportedly occur as early as the second half of 2021.
Unconfirmed sources at the company have said that London is potentially being considered as the potential site for any listing of shares, something which could feed into the Sazka’s attempts to secure the UK National Lottery concession.
The firm was first credited with an interest in taking over from current incumbent Camelot in February 2020.
Since then, Sazka has recruited several high-profile UK business leaders to its National Lottery team including London 2012 mastermind Sir Keith Mills, who will take a stake in the business if the bid is successful.
Former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King, Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman as well as several other figures from the London 2012 Olympic campaign, have also joined in unspecified advisory roles.
Another factor motivating the potential IPO could be Sazka investor Apollo Global Management, which invested €500m into the business in November 2020 as part of a wider portfolio of international expansion of the business.
The primary function of private equity firm Apollo Global Management is to grow businesses through investment potentially selling them for significant profit.
Apollo was recently rebuffed in its efforts to acquire Australian operator Tabcorp’s wagering and media division, with the operator choosing to spin off the division into a separate business.
Sazka Group is one of the largest pan-European lottery operators, with operations in the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Italy and Cyprus.
The business is a controlling shareholder in Greek lottery and betting operator OPAP.
Sazka has not commented on the report after being contacted by EGR.