SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
GVC Holdings is considering its options regarding its takeover bid for bwin.party Entertainment, after the FTSE listed operator announced last Friday that it had agreed a deal with acquisition competitor 888 Holdings.
In a statement GVC governance commented that there was no certainty that it would make a fresh bid for bwin.party.
GVC who had created a special purpose vehicle with Canadian igaming group Amaya Inc, outbid the offer made by 888 at 110p per share, valuing the operator at £908 million. However bwin.party accepted the lower 888 offer of 104p per share valuing its operations at £898 million.
It is believed that the bwin.party board prefer the lower offer made by 888, as the operators share similar synergies.
In a statement bwin.party directors commented “directors have concluded, after further work with GVC and its advisers and after careful consideration, that 888’s offer provides a higher degree of certainty for Bwin.Party shareholders and that GVC’s modest incremental premium to 888’s offer is not sufficient for the Bwin.Party board to recommend GVC’s proposal over 888’s offer.”
