The owner of the Racing Post is closing in on a £500 million sale after a Danish betting rival emerged as the odds-on favourite to clinch a deal.
The private equity firm Exponent has owned Spotlight Sports Group since 2016 and in December hired bankers at PJT Partners to oversee an auction of the business.
Spotlight’s best-known brand is the horseracing bible, but it also owns the tips sites My Racing, Free Super Tips, and a US betting platform called Pickswise.
Better Collective, which is behind a string of betting sites including Bettingexpert.com, Irishracing.com, and SmartBets, is now the frontrunner to snap up Spotlight after rivals dropped away, sources said.
Better is based in Copenhagen, but listed in Stockholm, where it has a market value