The sources, close to the deal, said Tuesday, that The Softbank Corp. group will acquisition a stake of about 20 percents in U.K. betting firm The Sporting Exchange Ltd. for an estimated Y50 billion possibly by April. In the first instance, the Internet services company will create an investment reserve to buy 15-20 percents of the outstanding shares in TSEL from its shareholders, before purchasing 3 percents of new shares to be issued by the U.K. firm. It’ll raise the Softbank group's stake to 18-23 percents. A part of group firms of the Japanese company are also supposed to join the investment. ‘Part of our investment activities, but there is a possibility that Softbank and the U.K. firm will team up in an IT-related area,’ told a Softbank official. TSEL has referred to Softbank as a strategic partner. Formed in 1999, TSEL is owned Betfair, a fast-growing online betting exchange with a global presence.

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