GVC again sweetens offer to try to pry Bwin from 888 Holdings

This price means bwin.party would be worth GBP 1.03 billion (EUR 1.47 billion).

Still, Bwin had accepted 888 Holdings’s 900 million-pound offer, saying GVC’s offer is just too complicated and has much less engaging progress prospects.

Bwin could use GVC’s latest offer to coax a higher offer from 888, said Simon Davies, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity.

“Bwin.party’s directors’ unanimous recommendation of 888’s offer is unchanged by this announcement”.

The bidding war for Bwin highlights a move towards consolidation in an industry where firms are trying to gain scale to offset an increase in taxes and tighter regulation in Britain.

Bwin has itself struggled with the decline of regulated poker markets in Europe and has had to make cost cuts. That process should conclude in the next five to 10 working days, the company said.

Bwin.party said separately that it’s working “closely” with GVC and its advisers to evaluate the bid.

As per the offer, bwin.party shareholders would be entitled to receive 122.5 pence for each bwin.party share, consisting of up to 25 pence in cash, and the balance of the value in new GVC ordinary shares.

GVC said it would finance the new deal through a combination of new GVC shares and a 400 million-euro ($443 million) senior secured loan from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management [CBS.UL], removing Amaya’s involvement and some of the complexity that had anxious Bwin.

Shares in Bwin rose 0.5p to 117.6p during morning trading in London, valuing the business at £975m.

Friday’s bid from GVC provides 125.5 pence per bwin.party share

instead.