Bwin Accepts 888 Acquisition Offer

The drawn out battle between 888 Holdings GVC-Amaya Group looks like it is finally coming to an end. The result is that Bwin will accept the acquisition offer on the table from 888 Holdings.

This amounts to £898 million and involves giving cash and new 888 Holdings shares for every Bwin.Party share currently held.  

The deal means that the current Bwin shareholders will own 48.9% of the new gambling firm that is formed out of the merger. They will also get to choose how much cash and how many shares they get, by choosing the mix that best suits them.

The price offered by GVC was actually a bit higher than the one offered 888, at £908 million. However, the Executive Chairman of Bwin.Party said that as well as the money they took into account the size and the strength of the bidding companies.

At the time the acquisition agreement was made the market value of Bwin was given as £848 million. Having said that, it has been struggling recently with online poker flagging in Europe. 888 Holdings has a current market value of £572 million but is a big player in the important US online gambling markets of New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.  

The belief stated by Bwin management is that being part of a bigger company they can get through any troubled times in the market and also take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves. Revenue projections for the combined group are now given at more than £650 million and they expect to become a major player in a number of regions, such as the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany.