Just a few days ago, we thought that bwin.party was purchased by 888 Holdings after the board choose the company’s bid. GVC Holdings had offered more money to purchase the company but was not chosen due to what many believe was the fact that Amaya Gaming was included. Amaya Gaming was backing the deal and it seems as though bwin.party felt that the 888 Holdings deal was less complicated.
However, after contemplating a new deal, GVC Holdings has now sent bwin.party a new offer, increasing their proposal for the company. Leaving out Amaya Gaming, GVC Holdings has presented a new deal to bwin. The new offer is much more lucrative and could give GVC the option to take over the company, despite 888’s bid being approved by the Board just a few days ago.
In the new deal, the company is offering 122.5p per share with 25p of that amount to be in cash and the remainder would be provided in GVC stock. The total amount of the new deal is worth just over $1.57 billion, a massive amount for bwin.party to consider.
With the original Amaya Gaming and GVC deal, it was believed that bwin.party would be split up. GVC would handle the sports books and casino gaming options since they have experience with such gaming as the operators of Sportingbet. Amaya would handle the online poker gaming options as they are the parent company of both Full Tilt and PokerStars. Those who would make the decision to sell the company did not want to see the top company split up. Allowing Amaya Gaming access would also give the company a very powerful position in the online gaming industry.
Without the help of Amaya Gaming, GVC had to find a new way to come up with financial backing to show they could come through with their end of the deal. GVC Holdings sent out a press release on the subject, which included financial information. A senior secured loan was acquired by GVC from Cerberus Capital Management with an additional amount of cash to be raised by a new equity placing of the shares of GVC.
Speaking with the Financial Times, GVC Holdings CEO Kenny Alexander, stated that the company has been talking with Cerberus for some time and they have been involved in the process for months. Alexander also stated that GVC did not expect bwin.party to choose 888. Alexander was very surprised when they made the decision for 888 over GVC.
The estimates of GVC Holdings show that the company could achieve over €135 million by the end of 2017 in regards to cost reductions. Now, bwin.party will be reviewing the proposal by GVC Holdings and will need to make a decision as to who will acquire the company.
888 would be able to continue to operate in New Jersey with a larger player liquidity if they are allowed to continue to acquire the company. Bwin.party and 888 both offer services in the area and with PokerStars set to enter the market, 888 would be able to compete if they see their deal accepted.
If GVC Holdings is approved, they will have the option to enter the market in New Jersey as well as have a nice stronghold in the online gaming industry across the globe.
It will be interesting to see who is given the final approval to acquire bwin.party. As a top provider, bwin.party will help either brand become a bigger provider of online gaming options from sports betting to poker and casino gaming.