GVC lines up $1.6bn offer to acquire bwin.party
Operator increases offer to 122.5p per share in bid to derail 888 deal
GVC Holdings has made an offer of approximately £1bn (US$1.6bn) as it bids to overtake rival 888 in the race to acquire bwin.party. [private]
This morning the firm confirmed it had has teamed up with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management to raise its bid for bwin.party from its original offer of 110p per share to 122.5p, consisting of 25p in cash and the rest in stock.
The new offer is significantly greater than the £898m deal accepted by bwin.party from 888 Holdings earlier this month, a price already lower than GVCâs original proposal of £906m ($1.4bn).
Last week eGR NA sister title eGaming Review revealed GVC would likely table an improved offer, with one source claiming the company would ânot rule anything out either wayâ to outflank 888 to complete the acquisition.
The improved offer would be financed through a combination of new GVC shares issued to bwin.party shareholders and a £284.6m ($442m) provided by affiliates of New York-based Cerberus Capital Management.
GVC would also raise £150m $233m through an equity placement of new GVC shares which would be used for restructuring costs and to finance bwin.partyâs current debt.
Bwin.party’s share price on the London Stock Exchange was 109.6p at the time of writing.