Prize draw firm Winvia Entertainment plans to float in London

Prize draw firm Winvia Entertainment has revealed plans to float in London, as the City’s stock market revival gathers further pace.
The company, which is majority owned by billionaire Teddy Sagi, said it plans to raise around £40 million through a listing on the AIM, London’s junior stock market.
Winvia is the UK’s second largest prize draw operator by market share, running competitions to win prizes including houses, cars and holidays.
The company, which is seeking to challenge industry leader Omaze, operates competition websites such as BOTB.com, standing for Best of the Best.
It said the fundraising will be aimed at growing the UK prize draw business further and increasing brand awareness.
Bosses said they see “significant opportunities for rapid growth in the highly fragmented and fast-growing UK Prize Draw market”, pointing towards potential acquisition opportunities to help its expansion.
Winvia reported £153.2 million in gross revenues last year, after growth of around 57%.
The company also runs a significant online gaming operation in Romania.
Mihai Manoila, chief executive of the business, said: “Announcing our intention to float on AIM marks an exciting milestone for Winvia Entertainment.
“An IPO would allow us to accelerate our growth strategy, specifically on the UK prize draw business where we see significant opportunities, both organic and inorganic, in a fragmented and fast-growing market where we can implement our technology platform.
“We look forward to taking the next steps on this journey and building on the work undertaken so far as we look to build a business with significant scale underpinned by our technology platform.”