The appointed joint administrators to the company confirm that less than £100,000 are held into clients’ accounts, although £3.6m are owed to customers. Sporting Options Plc (In Administration) Notice from the joint administrators – 16 November 2004 Paul John Clark and Andrew John Duncan, from Menzies Corporate Restructuring, were appointed as administrators of Sporting Options Plc at 3.25pm on 15 November 2004.
As reported on the company’s website yesterday, since our appointment we have been assessing the financial position of the company and reviewing its business operations.
The decision has been taken to permanently cease all trading activities of the Company.
Regrettably, for technical reasons outside of the administrators’ control, the company’s website has been unavailable since approximately 8.30pm last night. We hope that this will be rectified as soon as possible. All registered users should then be able to resume viewing their account balances and history by logging on to the website. We would once again confirm that all unsettled markets have now been voided and individual account balances updated accordingly.
We would advise you that all bank accounts operated by the company were automatically frozen on 15 November 2004 following the appointment of administrators. Following our initial enquires, it would appear to the administrators that there are insufficient funds held in the company’s clients’ account to settle all clients’ account balances in full.
The total amount due to clients appears to be in excess of £3.6 million. The amount held with the company’s bank in the clients’ account is less than £100,000. We are not yet in a position to comment further on the issue at this time.
Following our appointment as administrators, Betfair has acquired certain assets of the company, including the client list. Betfair has today released details of a rescue package being made available to Sporting Options customers and Betfair will be contacting customers directly in relation to this matter. Alternatively please go to www.betfair.com for further details.
We understand the frustrations that all clients are experiencing but would assure you that we are doing all that we can to protect your interests. We will continue to provide updated information as it becomes available through the medium of the website or by email.
In the event that you wish to contact us, we would request that you direct all queries to us at the following email address:
mailto:sportingoptions.co.uk
Members of our staff are monitoring all emails and we will endeavour to provide updates regarding frequently asked questions and to reply to specific queries where possible.
We would again request that you do not contact us by telephone.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
PAUL JOHN CLARK
Joint Administrator
Menzies Corporate Restructuring
17-19 Foley Street
London W1W 6DW
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