Online betting service hopes to raise £30m

Sportingbet.com, the online betting service, is planning its own £30m (stg) windfall as it steps up its global expansion programme.

The UK-based company hopes to raise the sum from a share placing on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market.

The move, due to take place later this month, comes as Sportingbet seeks further acquisitions, particularly in Asia and Australasia.

Mark Blandford, chief executive, said: "The new funding will further consolidate the company's competitive position within the global online sports betting market."

Sportingbet, which is currently listed on Ofex, an exchange for small companies, has 50,000 customers in 103 countries.

Trading in the group's shares on Ofex was suspended in November when it first announced it was planning to move to AIM.

At that point it had a market value of £190m which, including the £30m from the AIM placing, would give it a value of £220m.

But taking into account the general fall in the value of tech stocks since November, it is estimated its capitalisation will be more realistically between £160m and £180m.

Sportingbet was launched in October 1998 and was the first tax free online betting service to be established from within the UK. The group has operations in Alderney in the Channel Islands and in Costa Rica.

For the six months to September 30, Sportingbet saw its turnover increase to £114.1m from the £4.6m recorded during the same period of 1999.