Ensconced within the luxury of his £30m Knightsbridge pad overlooking Hyde Park, the billionaire Teddy Sagi laid his cards on the table. “I have a big pair of balls,” he proclaimed, according to documents filed at the high court. “I lost £300,000 in the casino last night. I will buy your business for £53m.”
For the man on the other side of the negotiating table, the online gambling entrepreneur Simon Wilson, the stakes had never been higher.
Wilson was no minnow. He had shrewdly capitalised on the online gambling boom of the early 21st century, transforming his business In Touch Games (ITG) from a supplier of high street slot machines and jukeboxes into a thriving digital gaming company with almost 5 million customers and a sponsorship deal with West Bromwich Albion.
