27th Jul 2015 06:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - The takeover battle for FTSE 250-listed online gaming company Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PLC took a further twist on Monday morning after GVC Holdings PLC made an increased takeover bid for the company, having previously seen its advanced spurned in favour of a rival offer from 888 Holdings PLC.
Earlier this month, Bwin.Party turned down GVC's first offer in favour of the 888 bid, despite it valuing the company for less. Bwin.Party said it had sided with the 888 offer due to the higher execution risks involved in the GVC offer, which had been backed by Canada's Amaya Gaming Inc.
GVC originally offered 100 pence per share for Bwin.Party, but said on Monday it has now raised this to 122.5 pence per share, 25 pence of which would be paid in cash, with the rest to be paid in GVC shares.
The company added it would finance the deal with a EUR400 million senior secured loan provided by affiliates of US private equity group Cerberus Capital Management LP. GVC also intends to raise GBP150 million through an equity placing in order to fund restructuring costs, the refinancing of existing Bwin.Party debt, and for additional working capital.
GVC said it thinks that, should its Bwin.Party deal be completed, it would generate EUR135 million in savings per year for the enlarged group by 2017.
Bwin.Party acknowledged the offer had been made by GVC and said it would make further announcements as appropriate.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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