Betfair shares soar on IPO

An ex-professional gambler and former City trader are set to make at least £211m from an initial public offering (IPO) of their 10-year-old company Betfair.

On its stock market debut Betfair was valued at £1.4bn.

Andrew Black and Edward Wray founded the online bookmakers and both sold around a million shares in the flotation, worth between £14 million and £17 million. They still own more than 20pc of the business.

Shares in Betfair were quoted at 1,542 pence at midday, a premium of close to 19pc on the IPO price.

The group is licensed to operate in the UK, Australia, Malta, Italy, Austria and Germany, claiming to be the biggest online sports betting operator in Europe. The firm boasts 2.5 million registered users and this year announced revenue growth of 13pc.