Betfred Group in £200m refinancing deal, and a quarter of a billion pounds wiped off the value of Man Utd in the past four weeks.
The Betfred Group have had a bit of a media mashing in the past few months, so it’s a nice refreshing change to be able to report on something more positive for the brothers Done.
News outlets in the North West have just announced that the Betfred Group has completed a £200m refinancing deal with the help of Barclays Bank, Santander UK, Yorkshire Bank and M&G Investments.
The news comes two and a half years after the group’s successful £265m acquisition of the former state-owned bookmaking business: The Tote. It’s believed that the successful refinancing deal moved forward, in part, due to the successful performance of Fred Done and his band of merry men, and women, since they integrated the Tote into their business.
The deal creates a new precedent for syndicated loans and the Betfred owner was said to be a very happy man. “I am delighted to have secured this arrangement with Barclays, Santander UK, Yorkshire Bank and particularly pleased to have M&G Investments as a new partner.” Said the Betfred owner.
The news comes on the back of a public outcry from Betfred employees who face a series of unsettlement’s including potential pay cuts and changes in roles. The last time Betfred was exposing its financial situation to the world (March 2013) revenues were to £8bn, up from £6,7bn the previous year. The group also reduced its debt by £43m to £213m.
Barry Nightingale, chief financial officer of Betfred, said: “The commitment and pricing offered by the syndicate highlights a refreshingly strong appetite for corporate loans from the region’s banks buoyed by new lenders to the market.’’
No Early Pay Out on a Man Utd Premiership Title?
Long before Fred Done start purchasing truck stops, mobile design apps and pissing off his employees, he was the first-ever bookie to pay out early on a Man Utd Premiership title win.
It was 1998 that Done declared the Premiership title race over, only to see Arsenal pip United by one point, to cost him a pretty penny, and he repeated the feat in the 2011/12 Premiership campaign only for Man City to beat them on goal difference on the final day of the season.
So will he be doing the same this year?
Not on your nelly!
James Igoe, a Private Client Director at XCap Securities, told the Manchester Evening News that the value of Manchester United has dropped a mind numbing quarter of a billion pounds in the last four weeks.
Just prior to their home win against Swansea, the Red Devils had lost three consecutive games for the first time since 1992, and it seems it’s not just the Premier League table that United seem to be finding a little greasy, but also the New York Stock Exchange.
United lie 10-points behind the league leaders – bitterest rivals Man City – and five points adrift of the Champions Club places in United’s first season without Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm.
Igoe told the Manchester Evening News: “The club peaked in May when they won the league and was worth $3.1bn, the most the club has ever been valued at.
“Now though, it is worth $2.5bn, down 12 per cent in the last four weeks and 20 per cent on May last year.
“I have always been quite negative on the prospects for the club floating. Because they are going to have to have as much success in the next four to five years as they had in the past, say, ten years.
“I can’t see how they are going to extrapolate that sort of growth. United have driven a lot of growth in China and the Far East and had a lot of success. I think the fan base is running the risk of being diluted by Liverpool and Manchester City.”
I guess I can wave bye-bye to that £500 I placed on them finishing in the top two then?
