Poll results: 888 edges ahead in race for bwin.party
Majority of respondents say 888 is better placed than the joint-ticket of GVC and Amaya as battle for bwin.party heats up
888 Holdings holds the slightly better hand in the battle to acquire bwin.party, the majority of respondents to this week’s eGaming Review has said.
The Itai Frieberger-led firm is currently in a tug-of-war with both GVC Holdings and Amaya Gaming in a bid to obtain the entire shareholding of bwin.party, and eGR readers have narrowly given 888 the edge.
Although there was not much to choose between the bidders, there was a slight preference expressed for 888’s part-cash, part-paper offer, with 55% of readers saying the firm was better placed to complete what would no doubt be a major coup.
In 888’s favour, the firm has already gained the backing of 59% of its shareholders for the proposed deal, including the Shaked family, which only recently rejected the advances of William Hill.
It could also be argued that 888 is better placed to extract more synergies from a potential bwin.party deal. The firm has enjoyed rapid growth through its Kambi-powered sportsbook but the vertical remains the one product for which it doesn’t own the technology, and it recently spoke of its wish to acquire its own sports betting platform.
But 45% of readers said the proposed GVC/Amaya joint-bid would make most sense, after early reports that GVC would attempt the acquisition alone faded.
Both GVC and Amaya have experience of pulling off acquisitions of this scale, with GVC able point to its successful turnaround of Sportingbet as proof that bwin.party’s assets would be safe in its hands.
But with a resolution still potentially weeks away, it is still too early to say which party, if any, will ultimately pull off the biggest egaming acquisition since Amaya landed PokerStars and Full Tilt last August.