LMAX And Betchecker Launched By Betfair

The conditional trading of Betfair began last week and Friday, its current value is £1.65bn, has introduced two new products – LMAX the long anticipated financial trading product that will imitate its sports betting switch over for retail investors and internet vendor comparison site Betchecker, the latter will enable punters to find companies which offers the most suitable bets.

The financial trading offshoot of Betfair, LMAX, will present retail investors with a choice to buy and sell Contracts for Difference (CFDs) in market indices, commodities and FX, additional asset modules to be added to the platform soon. CFDs request to retail investors will facilitate them to extrapolate profit from share price moves without having to compensate the stamp duty related with owning the shares.

The platform will join internet retail investors with Betfair charging a commission on every trade it done with its betting merchandise.

Betfair is responsible for setting up LMAX in 2007 and has received the go-ahead from the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) to present CFDs, spread betting and rolling spot forex contracts.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has purchased a 12.5% stake in the holding company of LMAX, London Multi-Asset Exchange (Holdings); the purchase amount has not been disclosed.  The majority shareholder is Betfair with a 73.5% share in the business.

Betchecker compares Betfair alongside other internet vendors monitoring which company profits the biggest winnings in the various football markets across Europe.

In a recent interview, a spokesperson for Betfair said the new site “enables wagerers to match and compare profits that have been made on bets with a number of various betting firms”.  In addition to this wagerers will be able to compare Betfair with four other companies consecutively.

Betfaire’s shares are on the up of late, the second day of conditional training since its inception on Friday, opening 29p up at £15.79.  Only preceding shareholders and subscribers to the float will be allowed to trade the exchange company’s shares.  Wednesday will see the commencement of absolute trading.

A preliminary public submission of £13-a-share delivered instant returns of 20% for institutional investors the previous week, at present Betfair shares are trading at £15 plus. Friday’s closing saw the stock priced at £15.50, presenting Betfair with a market capitalisation of plus minus £1.65bn.