Online gaming group bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc (LON:BPTY), owner of British CFD and spread betting broker InterTrader, today made an announcement, which can be interpreted as the official start of a bidding war for the group.
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To view the full article, register now. Both offers have been approved by the board and recommended to shareholders and the company was on the verge with signing with GVC, before this morning a new offer has hit home from 888 Holdings Plc. This week, on September 1st, bwin.party confirmed that it has received another proposal from 888, though it did not reveal any details.
GVC, which is far smaller than Bwin and so would wish to construction the deal as a reverse takeover, is known to have made its newest cash-and-shares bid on Friday night.
As the final battle for Bwin.party heats up, GVC says they would consider a hostile takeover if they need to. Bwin had previously accepted a 900 million-pound offer from 888, saying GVC’s offer of 1.03 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) was too complex and the growth prospects were less attractive.
Partypoker parent company bwin.party is still trying to decide who will acquire the company, despite initially accepting a deal by 888 Holdings.
Bwin’s board and shareholders had considerations with GVC’s bid, together with questions over whether or not the mixed enterprise will safe a important market itemizing on the London Inventory Trade and a New Jersey playing licence.
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GVC was working with Amaya Gaming on the first proposal and then sent in a second bid after 888 was chosen. Bwin said it will “consult with its key shareholders in the coming days before deciding on an offer “in due course”. The Board continues to believe that its offer is of significantly greater intrinsic value than the proposal outlined by GVC Holdings PLC on 24 August 2015. That put the 888 deal on hold while the financials were reviewed.
