Sportingbet shares suspended as Hills-GVC deal edges closer
Shares will be cancelled upon the completion of the acquisition.
The listing of shares and convertible bonds in Sportingbet has been suspended this morning, as the operator moves one step closer to being divided between William Hill and GVC.
Hills and GVC are anticipated to complete their joint acquisition of the London-listed operator next Tuesday, with another hurdle cleared earlier this week in the form of a scheme court hearing approving the deal.
Last week saw shareholders of GVC Holdings and Sportingbet provide near-unanimous approval for the acquisition, which values Sportingbet at 56.1p a share.
Once the scheme comes into effect next week, Sportingbet’s listing will be cancelled, representing the end of an era for the operator which first listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2001 before moving to the main market in 2010.
The acquisition will see William Hill take over Sportingbet’s Australian operations “ including the Centrebet business which it acquired in 2011 “ and Hills CEO Ralph Topping said at the operator’s FY results presentation earlier this month “We would like to see an association with the William Hill brand, whether that’s the William Hill brand itself, ‘Sportingbet: A William Hill company’ or ‘Centrebet: A William Hill company’, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Hills will also take over Sportingbet’s Spanish business, with a call option on the Miapuesta database, while the remainder of the operator’s portfolio being taken over by GVC.