Boylesports may bid for Celtic outlets

BOYLESPORTS HAS emerged as a possible bidder for some of the shops set to be vacated by the Celtic Bookmakers chain, which went into receivership this week.

AIB this week appointed Neil Hughes of Hughes Blake as receiver to Celtic, owned by broadcaster, businessman and former Government minister, Ivan Yates, spelling the end for the chain and leaving 237 jobs in the balance.

Boylesports, owned by businessman, John Boyle, con-firmed reports yesterday that it has made a formal approach to Mr Hughes expressing interest in buying some of the 49 Celtic outlets.

A spokesman for the chain, which has 141 shops throughout Ireland, said that the company had had very initial talks with Mr Hughes, but added that it was a long way from making any decisions at this point.

“It’s very early days yet and we’re going to take this on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Boylesports last year bought one of Celtic’s most profitable bookie shops in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.

It is unlikely that any of Celtic’s larger rivals would buy the entire chain, but they could be interested in taking over certain outlets.

Paddy Power, the largest Irish bookmaker, is also thought to be interested in looking at some of Celtic’s shops, as is British-based Ladbrokes, which has a strong Irish retail presence.

If possible Mr Hughes wants to sell the business as a going concern and save as many of the 237 jobs as possible.

Earlier this week he said that the shops would continue to trade as normal and added that the bank had provided working capital to honour outstanding bets.

Mr Yates has guaranteed the company’s €6 million borrowings and could face a residual liability once the receiver has finished his work.

Mr Yates founded Celtic in 1987 with the opening of a shop in Tramore, Co Waterford.

Celtic made a loss of €1.5 million in the year to July 2010.