BETFAIR IPO.

[john Tuohy]

How do people feel BETFAIR and the BETFAIR IPO will be affected by the emergence of new exchanges such as SMARKETS, MATCHBET, and AIX?

[Gordon McIvor Wilson]

Can always rely on Adonis for a strong, topical, informed opinion on matters of National Importance. So much so that I have taken the liberty of promoting his blog comment to its own blog post so everyone sees it!

[Adonis First]

No effect at all;
betfair is a virtual monopoly. I suspect that the number of former betfair Customers who wouldn't buy betfair shares even with stolen money is larger than most might imagine.
But not buyng shares for those reasons is also hardly likely to affect the IPO.
This is the company that in 2008 publicly admitted that it had been covertly taking cash from its processing of Customer bid and lay Offers (that process is by definition, the establishment of Fair Market Value - a dynamic variable). betfair said at the time that it did so "at zero risk" to itself. The cash came from Customers, NOT commission. I have heard NO THEORY how this can be achieved EXCEPT by "freezing" the incoming match offer queue, and thus (while it is frozen) preventing Customers from protecting themselves from such interferrence! In my book, that is covert interferrence in the process of Fair Market Value establishment.
The Gambling Commission said that the process employed (still not fully exposed to Public Scrutiny) was legitimate, because betfair had a Bookmaker Licence. This, against the backdrop of betfair adverts saying effectively "cut OUT the middleman" (meaning the bookmaker!!! aka ITSELF!!!)
Latest news is that the Gambling Commission (which has NEVER criticised a large bookmaker OR a large Betting Exchange since it was formed) is on the List of Quangos to be abolished.
Most Electors and Taxpayers will be forgiven for wondering what they EVER did to justify their Ministerial-level salaries........
Rant over.
For those who buy betfair share, good luck.
I suspect you'll need it!

[Gordon McIvor Wilson]

Risky, maybe, Chris - but the founding/early shareholders want some cash after 10 years to pay for their horses, hobbies and other baubles. If there arent any shares for the punter, that would seem to be an opportunity missed, could be big appetite there.

[john Tuohy]

I think they have probably run out of patience.

[Chris Needham]

At Smarkets, we're pretty excited about Betfair's IPO. Hopefully the general public will gain more awareness of betting exchanges and British tech companies. Jason has written a summary on our blog - http://blog.smarkets.com/2010/09/23/betfair-ipo/.

I would definitely buy some shares, though it doesn't seem average joes like myself will have the opportunity unfortunately. Though I do thinks its quite risky of them to float with the economy in the current state, surely they would go for more when the economy is starting to recover and investors are keen to buy! I guess the owners probably want to cash in.

What do you think?