PartyGaming and Bwin to rename
PartyGaming and Bwin will be re-named as bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc should both sets of shareholders vote in favour of a planned merger at a joint EGM on 28 January next year.
PartyGaming and Bwin will be re-named as bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc should both sets of shareholders vote in favour of a planned merger at a joint EGM on 28 January next year, PartyGaming has said following the release of its shareholder prospectus earlier today.
The 478-page document outlines the most detailed description of what the merged organisation and the world’s largest publicly listed online gaming company would look like. On 29 July both companies announced their intention to merge.
The prospectus suggests that both companies would retain their core existing brands but operate under the bwin.party Digital Entertainment plc holding company that would be headquartered in Gibraltar and listed on the London Stock Exchange with bwin shareholders expected to hold 51.6% of shares and current PartyGaming shareholders 48.4%.
The merger would create a business with unaudited net revenues of 696.2m, unaudited clean EBITDA of 193.7m, unaudited profit after tax of 99.4m and unaudited net assets of 1.27bn after consolidation adjustments for the year ended 31 December 2009, the document said.
It added that the annual synergies resulting from the merger are expected to total approximately 55m (£46m) with around 40m be achieved in the financial year 2012, with full synergies from 2013.
The document outlines that the merged business will focus on regulated and regulating markets, invest in a joint innovation laboratory to develop new products particularly in the social gaming sphere, look to develop long-term partnerships with leading sporting organisations, prepare itself for US regulation, as well as not ruling out further acquisitions.
Objectives and strategy of the combined group
(Source: PartyGaming prospectus)
The core elements of the combined group’s business strategy will be to:
Focus on regulated and to-be-regulated markets
Organise the combined group along key product verticals
Aim to deliver the best customer experience and build confidence in core brands
Leverage the combined group’s market leading business-to-consumer (B2C) offering in all product verticals
Position the combined group to enter the US market, if and when the regulatory environment allows
Exploit new distribution channels
Invest in future development through dedicated innovation teams
Develop long-term partnerships with sports organisations
Participate in further consolidation of the online gaming sector
Recycle surplus software and associated infrastructure