GVC Holdings offers £900 million for bwin.party

The Financial Times has reported that GVC Holdings Plc is prepared to offer £900 million ($1.3 billion) to acquire rival bwin.party Entertainment. The deal is set to compromise of a cash sum valued at 110 pence per share combined with a new stock issuance in the merged operator. .

As bwin.party is the bigger business entity, the acquisition will be treated as a reverse takeover, London AIM listed GVC has formed a strategic vehicle with Amaya Inc in order to fund and process the acquisition.

Amaya will contribute funding to the GVC acquisition, if approved GVC will operate the new business and give Amaya Governance the first right to buy the new business following two years under GVC management.

GVC steps up its offer for bwin.party, against strong interest from bid competitor 888 Holdings. Today the operator reported a record H1 2015 revenue performance of €800 million.

GVC governance has garnered a successful reputation for joint takeovers, having teamed up with William Hill in 2012 to acquire and split up Sportingbet Plc assets. The joint acquisition saw GVC gain Sportingbet Plc’s grey market (unregulated) assets.

bwin.party governance is still revising the offers put forward by GVC and 888 Holdings.