Betfair in possible £700m float

At peak times, Betfair matches up to 12,000 bets a minute

Online betting exchange Betfair could earn its co-founders £100m each in a possible stock market flotation.

The company has appointed investment bankers to weigh up options which include a £700m stock market flotation.

The other options also include selling the company or refinancing, according to the Sunday Times.

Betfair is an online betting service which matches gamblers against each other, meaning they do not need to go to traditional bookmakers.

'£100m' windfall

Betfair takes a commission fee for the facility, which covers sports ranging from football to cricket, American football, horse racing and snooker. At peak times, it can match up to 12,000 bets a minute.

If the company was floated at the £700m price mentioned, founders Andrew Black and Edward Wray would earn £100m each. They set up the company in 1999.

A number of smaller investors could stand to earn hundreds of thousands of pounds if they also sold their stock.

Betfair has appointed a Yahoo! director as a non-executive director in what was thought to be a sign of a possible float.

Australian venture

Yahoo Betting, which is due to be launched before the end of the month, will be built and managed by Betfair and customised for users of the Yahoo online portal.

Betfair is thought to hold 90% of the online betting exchange market in the UK.

In its last financial year, Betfair posted revenues of £66.7m and pre-tax profits of £13.3m.

In July 2004, Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) signed a 50-50 joint venture with Betfair to develop online betting in Australia.