Shares in Centrebet International rose sharply yesterday after it revealed possible takeover talks.
The shares rose by more than 12% at one stage to a day’s high of $1.89.
They ended the day up 10.4% at $1.80, a rise of 17c.
That was after the company had announced that it had received "proposals" that could see it as a takeover target.
Centrebet said it was "facilitating discussions" with organisations which have expressed interest in taking over the punting company.
The company said it has received a number of confidential, indicative, non-binding and conditional proposals from parties expressing an interest in the possible acquisition of the company and is facilitating discussions with such parties.
The Financial Review last month named five groups as being interested: Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power, Sportingbet and Bwin, all UK companies.
The paper said it believed the quintet were in discussions with Centrebet over the 60% Kafataris family shareholding.
Paddy Power are already big players in Australia, having recently increased their stake in Sportsbet to 60.8% (and blocking Centrebet last year), while another UK group, Sportingbet has a growing business in the country.
Betfair is another foreign operator here, although it is in a 50/50 joint venture with James Packer.
Tabcorp and Tattersalls, which run the major TABs, would be prevented from acquiring Centrebet because of competition reasons.
Centrebet which has previously disclosed that it was considering consolidation opportunities, either as an acquirer or as a target, described the proposals as "confidential, indicative, non-binding and conditional".
"Consistent with this and in light of the proposals received, Centrebet is facilitating discussions with the prospective parties, in order to determine whether a proposal can be developed that may be viewed in the best interests of Centrebets shareholders and is capable of being put to Centrebet’s shareholders," the company said yesterday.
The company said no agreements had been reached and it could not provide further details on the offers.
"Given the nature of the proposals and that further proposals may well be received, it is not considered appropriate or in the best interests of Centrebet and its shareholders to provide any further details concerning the proposals received at this stage," it told the market.
"In considering any proposal, the Centrebet Board will be seeking to maximise shareholder value and will have regard to the strong growth potential of the business, courtesy of the company’s current strategy and the positive industry landscape in Australia in particular."
Centrebet said the discussions may take several months. It was possible that no changes to the ownership of the business might eventuate.
"The Company does not intend to disclose further developments regarding any of these proposals until the above-mentioned discussions have been completed," Centrebet said in the statement.
The news came about a year after the company pulled out of a takeover attempt for a rival betting firm, IAS.
Centrebet, which is controlled by big bookmaker, Con Kafataris, abandoned a $20 million hostile takeover bid for Mark Read’s International All Sports (IAS) after an adverse ruling from the Takeovers Panel.
Centrebet chairman told the Australian Stock Exchange on the March 3 of last year that the company was disappointed, but accepted the Panel’s decision.
Last month Con Kafataris, announced that he will suspend his on-course operations at the end of the autumn carnival in Sydney.
Kafataris said his on-course operations had become "totally unsustainable" due to draconian state government restrictions imposed on bookmakers.
"My NSW on-course license is loss-making and I have no viable future unless the Government and racing bodies remove restrictions to allow NSW bookmakers to be on a level playing field," he was reported in the Sydney media as saying.
