The Coates family, the billionaires behind Bet365, are considering selling their online gambling business, which could be worth £9bn, according to the Guardian. Denise Coates runs the company. In recent weeks has been talking to Wall Street banks and US advisers about selling all or part of the business, sources close to the talks said. These informal chats looked into various options, including listing the business on a US stock exchange in the near future. One option is to sell part of the company to a private equity investor and the Coates family would retain some ownership before a future listing. Alternatively the company could spin off part of the business rather than a full stock market listing for the Stoke-on-Trent based firm.

Another source confirmed there had been talks with private equity firms about buying a stake before any stock market float. A person close to the negotiations said Bet365 had got to the stage called a “beauty parade” where companies evaluate banks that can get them the best deal. Bet365 didn’t comment. Selling Bet365 would give Denise Coates, 57, more than £5bn thanks to her 58% ownership. It would be the end of an incredible journey that started in a Portakabin in a Stoke car park. Coates led Bet365 as it pioneered online gambling technology, growing from nothing to overtake Ladbrokes and William Hill.

In the last few years the company has expanded into the US, where a sports betting boom started in 2018 after the Supreme Court overturned a long standing federal ban. Since then Bet365 has got licenses in 13 states and is actively pursuing more as more states regulate betting. To attract US investors the Coates family have made some key moves. Earlier this year the company decided to leave China, a market where betting is illegal and controversial. In August last year ownership of Stoke City football club was transferred to John Coates, Denise’s brother. Paul Leyland, director at Regulus Partners said, “It would be hard to maintain a presence in China given US scrutiny and why would you keep a football club which is a family legacy?”

He said selling in the US is attractive for everyone, it’s an exit for Denise and an opportunity for US investors to invest in a successful growing industry. “There is more money looking for gambling opportunities than there are gambling companies to invest in,” he said. The gaming consultancy Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) predict US sports betting revenue will grow from around $14bn last year to over $23.3bn by 2029. Bet365 has a 2.5% market share but EKG says the company is aiming for double digit share.

 “It’s tough and expensive to break into that market. You may need to fund a more aggressive strategy,” said Alun Bowden, an analyst at EKG. “Now’s a good time to explore exit options, especially with Denise turning 60 in two years.” EKG has previously valued Bet365 at up to $12bn (£9bn), based on industry-standard valuations and the company’s pre-tax profit of £627m last year, with revenues of £3.7bn. Denise Coates has already taken record-breaking pay and dividends from the company she founded. Since 2019, Britain’s highest-paid woman has increased her stake from 50.2% after her parents, Peter and Deirdre, transferred their shares to her.

Bowden said: “For years people have told me Bet365 is the business they wish they could invest in. Some in the industry think it’s fading, but Bet365 is one of the best, if not the best, online sports betting companies globally. There’s still plenty of growth in the casino, the US and many other markets. I don’t see them having many challenges.” Peter Coates, 80, Denise’s father, was a successful local businessman in the catering industry. He also owned a chain of betting shops. But it was Denise, an econometrics graduate, who spotted the opportunity in online betting at the turn of the millennium.

She bought the Bet365.com domain from eBay for $25,000 and used the equity from the physical shops to build sports betting technology, leaving the slower competitors behind. Denise is not one for the spotlight. But in a rare interview with the Guardian in 2012 she said her family were the “ultimate gamblers.”