21st Dec 2015 14:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Betfair Group PLC and Paddy Power PLC on Monday said their respective shareholders have approved the proposed merger between the two betting companies.
The pair, to be called Paddy Power Betfair once merged, remain on track to complete the deal sometime in the first quarter of 2016, creating one of the world's largest online gambling firms with combined revenue of around GBP1.10 billion.
The shareholder meetings of the two companies on Monday follow the UK Competition and Markets Authority giving the merger the all-clear late last week.
Betfair shareholders will receive 0.4254 new Paddy Power Betfair shares in exchange for each Betfair share, whilst Paddy Power shareholders will also be paid a special dividend from Betfair. The terms will lead to Paddy Power shareholders owning 52% of the enlarged company, with Betfair shareholders owning the other 48%
The all-share merger is being facilitated by a scheme of arrangement, which needed to be approved by Betfair shareholders at a court meeting. Around a quarter of its shareholders voted in the meeting, holding around three quarters of its issued share capital, it said.
The results were very much in favour of the scheme to facilitate the deal, with shareholders owning a combined stake of 72.5% voting in favour of the scheme with only a handful of votes being cast against it.
Betfair also held a general meeting for shareholders to vote on other matters related to the merger, which yielded almost identical results.
Paddy Power, in its own statement, said its shareholders approved the deal at its extraordinary general meeting.
Betfair shares were flat at 3,862.0 pence on Monday, whilst Paddy Power shares were down 0.2% to 122.77p.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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