888 makes new BwinParty proposal

Party has confirmed it has received a revised proposal from fellow operator 888 Holdings.

The boards of both companies previously reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended offer that would see 888 acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of BwinParty, which was announced in July and represented an approximate value of £898.3m.

Online gaming group GVC Holdings announced in August it had increased its proposal to acquire BwinParty to 125.5p a share and BwinParty said on Thursday it “has now asked GVC to clarify, with respect to its proposal, the best terms on which GVC is prepared to make a formal offer”.

Regarding 888’s new proposal , BwinParty said: “The board of BwinParty is evaluating this proposal, together with that received from GVC, and intends to consult with its key shareholders in the coming days before making a final determination as to which proposal is in the best interests of shareholders.

“The board's unanimous recommendation of 888's offer, which was announced on 17 July 2015, remains unchanged by this announcement. Documentation in respect of this offer was posted to shareholders on 28 August 2015.”

All three related companies published their latest financial results for the six months ended 30 June on Friday.

BwinParty reported an operating profit for the first six months of the year for the first time since its creation in 2011, turning an operating loss of €100.4m for the corresponding period last year into an operating profit of €5.3m.

GVC’s wagers increased 19% to €824m while 888’s like for like revenue went up 9% to $244.9m.