TA L K I N G P O I N T S F E A T U R E
BREON CORCORAN
GETTING ON WITH BUSINESS >>
BREON CORCORAN, CEO AT BETFAIR, HAS HAD A TUMULTUOUS FIRST YEAR IN THE JOB, BUT HE TELLS TOM VICTOR THE FIRM IS GALVANISED AND READY TO TAKE THE COMPETITION HEAD ON
To say Breon Corcoran’s last 12 months have been eventful would be an understatement. Since taking over as Betfair’s chief executive officer on 1 August last year, he has overseen layoffs, a notable acquisition, the withdrawal from two high-pro?le investments, a major software deal and fought off an attempt to take the company private. And this is only just the beginning. It is the last of these events that has eaten up the most column inches recently, with the CEO as the driving force in rejecting the takeover bid, if reports are to be believed. An attempt from Formula 1 owner CVC Capital Partners was believed to have fallen through, in part at least, due to Corcoran’s stubbornness over the suitor’s efforts to go back to basics and make high-value exchange customers the main focus. The talks eventually ended with Betfair’s board rejecting a 950p a share offer to take the company private less than three years after its high-pro?le IPO, though not without the operator being forced – in Corcoran’s words – to “show a bit more leg than we might have liked to”. A statement from Betfair at the time said: “It became clear that it would not be possible to agree the terms of any proposal in conjunction with
BREON CORCORAN
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