PointsBet is preparing a target’s statement after Betr made an off-market takeover offer directly to its shareholders, and continues to recommend MIXI Australia”s bid.
Betr, the trading name of BlueBet and a rising challenger brand in the Australian betting sector, made the offer on Wednesday, proposing 3.81 Betr shares per PointsBet share.
This equates to AU$1.22 per PointsBet share and is based on a $0.32 betr share price. However, PointsBet asserts that the offer equates to $1.03 per share based on betr’s 20 trading day market VWAP ending 16 July 2025.
Dismissing Betr’s offer as unsolicited, PointsBet has requested that its shareholders take no action until it publishes its target statement, an official statement a company being targeted for acquisition provides to its shareholders in which it outlines its position on bids.
Betr & MIXI trade bids in hard fought battle
In response to Betr’s off-market bid, MIXI has lodged its own bidder’s statement for an off-market takeover of PointsBet with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with a copy also provided to the ASX.
The letter reiterates MIXI’s previously made offer of $1.20 per PointsBet share, equating to $402m. The firm, the Australian division of Japanese digital tech group MIXI, also emphasised that its bid contains few added conditions and has received the unanimous backing of PointsBet shareholders.
MIXI has made two offers, a $353m one in February and a $402m one in June, while PointsBet made a $360m one in May followed by its off-market offer this week. Further complicating matters is the fact betr is already a 19.6% shareholder in PointsBet, a factor which prevented a unanimous shareholder approval of MIXI’s bid.
This bidding battle is long-running, and is showing no signs of easing up anytime soon. Both MIXI and Betr are refusing to back down in their ambition to acquire PointsBet, a move which would significantly expand both firms’ presence in Australia.
In betr’s case, the company has emerged as one of Australia’s main challenger brands since its foundation in 2023. It became the trading name of BlueBet with its fellow challenger last year, and the entity has continued to expand via acquisition since, taking over Northern Territory bookmaker TopSport.
The Northern Territory is also a significant area for MIXI, with the firm owning local company BetM. Taking over PointsBet would enable both Betr and MIXI to expand their Australian presence substantially, but a question hangs over what would happen in the firm’s other major market – Ontario, Canada.
Future of PointsBet Canada hangs in balance
PointsBet has been a player in North America for many years, though Canada is now its only territory there ever since selling off its US division to Fanatics, becoming the basis for Fanatics Betting and Gaming.
Although Ontario is a highly competitive market, PointsBet Canada offers iGaming as well as sports betting, in contrast to wagering-only PointsBet Australia, opening up new revenue streams.
Also, Alberta is preparing to become Canada’s second dmulit-leicne betting market, with launch scheduled next year. This could pose a lucrative opportunity for some buyers, although betr seems uninterested.
The company has struck a non-binding agreement with Hard Rock Digital to sell off PointsBet Canada, with the deal valued at around $29.6m – though this would of course depend on it successfully acquiring PointsBet, a prospect the latter’s board are adamantly opposed to.
Betr has noted that PointsBet Canada is a ‘loss-making’ enterprise, and would sell off the firm’s Ontario iGaming licences and operations, customer data-bases and IP, any other provincial licences, and Canadian-specific technology.
Proceeds from this sale would be pumped back into betr’s Australian market challenger ambitions, where the firm is looking to take on the well-established names of Tabcorp, Entain’s Ladbrokes and Neds, and Flutter Entertainment’s Sportsbet.
MIXI’s Canadian ambitions are not as clear cut, although its bid has secured regulatory approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). However, it is certain that should PointsBet’s tenacity pay off, it would spell the end of PointsBet Canada.
