Will gambling.com go for $10 mill?
News on 4 Jan 2011
News on 4 Jan 2011
Media Corporation’s intended sale of the desirable domain Gambling.com is generating interest from private equity companies, according to a number of media reports kicking off interest in the sale as business gets back under way in 2011.
The company has engaged the domain auction specialists Sedo to handle the deal, with a reserve price of $9 million, although Media Corp’s CEO Justin Drummond is hoping for $10 million or more.
The reports indicate that at least two unidentified potential buyers have indicated they would be prepared to pay about $6 million for gambling.com, and there is widespread speculation that bet365 and Playtech are both interested.
Media Corporation has pointed out that the domain has exceptionally high Google search ranking and attracts around 300 000 unique visits a month.
Hugo Dalrymple-Smith, who is handling the sale for Sedo in London, said: “This is the premium generic domain in a very competitive market. Gaming is one of the leading online businesses, and gambling.com offers the chance for one company to stand out above others.”
Sedo is believed to hold the record for selling the highest priced domain name with no business attached, handling the auction of Sex.com which was sold to an unidentified buyer for $13 million.
However, for a domain with an attached business, Insure.com was probably better value at $16 million, and Media Corporation itself reportedly paid $20 million for Gambling.com back in 2005, generating $5.5 million in advertising revenues with it over the following year.
The advent of the UIGEA and restrictions on US online gambling forced Media Corporation to exit the American market, heavily impacting the value of the portal
Media Corporation now consists of two businesses: the Purple Lounge online casino and poker room, with more than 100,000 customers and revenues reported to be about GBP30 million; and Eyeconomy, the seventh-biggest online advertising network, which sells ads for about 1000 websites in the UK.
Drummond has commented: “Gambling.com does not contribute too much to revenues at the month, and the value we realise from this sale will allow us to make further acquisitions.”
