One More Thing: Irish eyes half-smiling at Opta sale

There was an Irish tinge to the celebrations surrounding yesterday’s sale of UK sports data firm Opta for up to £47 million.

The business, which is involved in collecting statistics on sports players and whose clients are sports clubs, had a long list of individual investors, all of whom should share in the payday.

Included in the lucky group is Compton Hellyer, the founder (and seller) of Sporting Index, who spent his university years as a man about town at Trinity College Dublin.

According to one report, Hellyer likes to joke that his three years at Dublin left him with "a first in racing, a second in golf and a third in business studies". Yesterday's deal suggests there should be a greater emphasis on this type of education. Another shareholder in Opta is Sir Brian Williamson, the London financial grandee and TCD graduate, whose parents were Irish and who served for a lengthy period on the court of Bank of Ireland in the carefree 1990s.

Opta, founded by 1996, is being bought by Leonard Blavatnik’s Perform Group, the digital sports rights firm.