Bwin.party stock tumbles as Party founders sell shares

Bwin.party’s share price fell by more than 10% this morning following news that independent trustees linked to PartyGaming founders Ruth Parasol DeLeon and Russell DeLeon decided to sell the remainder of their shareholdings totalling approximately 50 million shares.

The operator’s share price closed at 105p yesterday but news of the placement from investors Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge saw the stock fall to a low of 91.8p this morning before recovering to 95.5p at the time of writing.

In a statement, bwin.party chairman Philip Yea said he welcomed the sale which he said offered the firm “clarity”, with the trustees having been obligated to sell-down their holdings before the end of October.

In 2013, the DeLeons agreed to sell their entire shareholdings within a 36-month period in order to smooth bwin.party’s passage into New Jersey, at which time Emerald Bay, wholly-owned by Parasol, and Stinson Ridge, wholly-owned by DeLeon, both held 7.16% of bwin.party shares.

Part of this process saw a 6.1% stake in bwin.party snapped up by activist investment firm SpringOwl Gibraltar Partners, which is headed up by Jason Ader, who has since been a vocal critic of the way in which the firm has been run.

Yea also added today’s sale would have “no bearing on the board’s discussions regarding proposals received from third parties” with bwin.party currently in the process of reviewing a reverse takeover bid from 888 and a joint-proposal from GVC Holdings and Amaya Gaming.