Bookmakers Coral could be floated on the stock market according to a report in today's Financial Times.
The newspaper said that the company, currently owned by investment group Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, may fetch up to £1 billion, given its move last year into internet betting.
A statement from Coral said that a stock market listing was a possibility.
It read: "We can confirm that we have appointed both CSFB (Credit Suisse First Boston) and Deutsche Bank to advise us on our strategic alternatives, which include the possibility of a stock market listing.
Coral has more than 860 betting shops in the UK and two greyhound tracks but the jewel in the business is seen as the Eurobet Internet service.
At £1bn, the flotation would represent a massive profit for Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, which bought Coral from Ladbroke in 1998 for £395m.
If the move goes ahead it will be Britain's biggest leisure flotation since the £1.7bn offering of Thomson Travel in 1998.
