Early this week Free Slot Money reported that 888 were to arrange a meeting with Bwin.party to negotiate a counter-bid to GVC Holding’s confirmed offer. Negotiations must have gone well as today we can confirm the race to takeover Bwin.party has been won by 888 Holdings. An offer of £898.3 Million in cash and shares was made and accepted. 888 will finance the cash portion of the deal through a $600m term loan credit facility.
News reports of the agreement have exploded across online press releases, social media and newspapers as an outcome has been a long time coming. The fact that they will be acquired by their rival speaks volumes about consolidation in the gaming industry. The biggest consolidation announcement came in June 2014 when Amaya acquired PokerStars and Full Tilt for $4.9bn in cash to create the world’s largest listed online gaming group.
When reflecting on the Amaya deal and commenting on the Bwin.party and 888 consolidation, chairman Philip Yea of Bwin.party explains, “They made everyone realise that the industry was entering another phase. We viewed this as a period to explore consolidation while not losing sight of our core business.”
888 executive chairman Brian Mattingley added, “This is a transformational opportunity for 888 in the consolidating online gaming industry, which is expected to grow significantly over the coming years,”
“The Enlarged Group will benefit from significantly enhanced scale, an improved product offering as well as significant cost and revenue synergies.”
One thing is for sure, the merging of 888 and Bwin.party’s product verticals will indeed create a solid gaming company. Alex Dreyfus, CEO of Global Poker Index, shares his thoughts on the impact the deal will have on the poker ecosystem and you can read the article here.
