SportPesa boss Karauri denies IPO plans

Kenyan online sports betting firm SportPesa does not plan to go public, Chief Executive Ronald Karauri told Reuters.

News agency Bloomberg reported that the company, which operates in Kenya and Britain, planned an initial public offering of its shares in the first quarter of 2019.

It cited unnamed sources.

Asked by Reuters if the company planned to go public, Karauri said “no”, without offering further comments.

A source in the market told Reuters there had been conversations between SportPesa and Nairobi-based Kestrel Capital on a potential transaction, but details of the talks or the sort of transaction envisaged were not available.

Andre DeSimon, the managing director of Kestrel, declined to comment when Reuters contacted him.