Zetters buys Financial Spreads

FOOTBALL pools operator Zetters Group has acquired City betting firm Financial Spreads from Sporting Index for £8.7m. Zetters, which plans to fund part of the purchase through a £4.7m share placing, believes Financial Spreads' business, which is derived mainly from British clients, will complement the overseas operations of its IFX arm.

Zetters chief executive Graham Wellesley said there was scope to promote Financial Spreads' products to IFX clients in Europe and the Far East while enjoying significant savings in areas such as hedging, infrastructure and marketing.

Sporting Index chief executive Richard Glynn said the sale would leave his company to focus on the rapidly growing business of sports-related betting. 'Such markets present substantial growth opportunities for the business, especially over an 18-month period which includes three different World Cup events,' he said.

Sporting Index created Financial Spreads three years ago by recruiting five traders and a back-office team. It introduced online dealing early last year, cashing in on the appeal of the internet to punters. It said the number of bets placed through the internet at Financial Spreads had grown from an average of 1,206 a day in June last year to 2,723 last month, accounting for almost 90% of its business.

The popularity of spread betting has exploded in the City as punters take advantage of its exemptions from stamp duty and capital gains tax.