Stockbroker Ord Minnett is arranging meetings this week to test institutional investor appetite in Canberra-based wagering data, analytics and news business Racing and Sports, which is thinking about an ASX-listing in coming months.

The non-deal roadshow will try to determine what the business could be worth if listed on the ASX, at a time when sports betting data companies are getting plenty of attention globally.

As well running a large database on thoroughbred horses and developing interactive racing technology, the business is the publisher of racingandsports.com which attracts 2 million unique viewers annually.

The business, which competes with locally listed BetMakers, helps drive the offerings of well-known betting companies including Tabcorp, Ladbrokes, Bet365, Sportsbet, Betfair and BlueBet.

The business, which was founded in 1999 by industry veteran Gary Crispe and Robert Vilkaitis, recorded $5.3 million in revenue in the 2021 financial year and $2.9 million EBITDA.

Former small business ombudsman and ACT chief minister Kate Carnell is its chairman.

Before starting the company, Crispe (a civil engineer and economist), worked with Successability, and the late Don Scott as racing manager and chief handicapper of Superform.

Proceeds from the potential IPO would fund Racing and Sports expansion in the US, where sports betting was legalised in 2018. More than 20 US states now allow sports betting.

Thanks to the legalisation, the US market is heating up. In August, Penn National bought TheScore for $US2 billion at close to a 100 per cent premium to its last closie price. European wagering data supplier Sportradar is also pursuing an IPO currently, with JPMorgan on board as lead manager, having broken off SPAC talks.

BetMaker, meanwhile, is trading up 136 per cent in the year to date to have a market capitalisation north of $1 billion.

Online article taken from The Australian Financial Review, published on Thursday, 2nd September 2021, Authors, Anthony Macdonald and Yolanda Redrup.