October 18, 2012

Sportingbet set to agree takeover for £530 million

William Hill has increased its proposed offer for Sportingbet, valuing the online gaming company at £530m.

The offer from the British bookmaker and GVC Holdings includes the recently announced 48.9p a share in cash from William Hill, and 0.0475 new GVC shares per Sportingbet share.

William Hill submitted a £350m proposalwith GVC in September but it was rejected by Sportingbet’s board as undervaluing the company.

In a statement on Tuesday, Sportingbet said it had agreed to work with William Hill and GVC toward a firm offer, which if made, the board would unanimously recommend it to shareholders.

William Hill had been required to announce a firm offer for the online gaming company by 5pm today, but the Takeover Panel has extended this deadline to 5pm on November 13.

William Hill is after Sportingbet’s Australian business, which accounts for 90pc of its profits.

GVC, which last year bought Sportingbet’s Turkish business for £113m, would take on the more politically sensitive, unregulated operations.

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