The London billionaire brothers Richard and Ian Livingstone today emerged as some of the biggest financial winners from the coronavirus crisis as their stake in a little-known online gambling firm nearly doubled to £1.4 billion during the crisis.
The pair, whose trophy properties include Cliveden House, famed for the Profumo scandal, and the upmarket Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa, are the biggest shareholders in Swedish internet casino business Evolution Gaming.
Since the lockdown has gripped households around the world, millions of people have taken to betting on online casino games such as poker and roulette, triggering a surge in the share price.
The shares are held by Richard but Ian sits on the board as a director.
Evolution Gaming’s shares have surged from 282 Swedish kroner to 552 kroner since January, bringing a paper profit on Richard’s stake of a staggering £671 million.
They floated at just 80 kroner in a 2015 stock market debut that saw Richard sell the about £41 million-worth of shares to new investors. He now owns 17% of the company, or 30 million shares.
While the brothers’ investment prowess in property has famously propelled them into the lists of London’s wealthiest billionaires, news of their timely investments in Evolution will come as a surprise to most observers of the business scene.
It will also more than offset the decline in asset values from their dozens of hotels and resorts around the world.
The Evolution investment looks particularly smart as it provides the plumbing rather than the front end of the world’s most popular online casino games.
That means it benefits from the spread of online gaming across lots of different companies around the world and does not have the huge marketing and advertising bills needed to bring in new punters.
Customers in the UK include Paddy Power, Betfair and William Hill, which use Evolution’s games and badge them up with their own brands.
Evolution has made big moves into so-called live casino gaming, where players at home can bet on real life games through their PC or mobile phone with a dealer filmed live in a TV studio.