Intertain confirms Vera&John acquisition as share price tanks

The Intertain Group has confirmed it has reached an agreement to acquire the parent company of online casino firm Vera&John, with the news coming after its share price plummeted more than 25% on Friday.

In October, the Toronto-based firm revealed it had entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Dumarca Holdings for up to €89.1m.

And following further negotiations, Intertain will make an initial payment of €44.5m ($62.9m) in cash and €36.5m ($51.5m) in common shares, with additional earn outs payable depending on Vera&John’s performance in 2015 and 2016.

Earn outs will be dependent on EBITDA generated by the casino firm over the next two years up to a maximum of €8.1m.

Confirmation of the acquisition came as Intertain’s share price fell 26.5% on Friday to CA$10.70.

Some industry observers suggested the fall in share price may have been related to the ongoing investigation into Intertain shareholder Amaya Gaming’s acquisition of PokerStars by the financial regulator in Quebec.

However, in statement issued to the market Intertain said it was “not aware of any connections” between itself and the investigation into Amaya.

“The Intertain Group feels it is necessary to comment on the trading activity in its common shares today [Friday],” the statement read. “The company became aware through news reports of the investigation by the Autorite des marches financiers regarding certain trading activities of Amaya Gaming Group.

“Intertain stated today that it is not aware of any connections to Intertain of the investigation, and it has not been contacted by any security regulatory or law enforcement authority,” it added.

Amaya, whose share price fell 18% on Friday, holds around 1.9 million shares in Intertain and is its largest shareholder.

Last month eGaming Review exclusive revealed that Intertain was eyeing up its third major acquisition of the year, with plans to acquire a “key asset” of the Gamesys Group.