The acquisition of bwin.party is in the news once again as GVC Holdings has rebuffed approaches for a number of assets belonging to the company.
September agreement
In a deal that was finally agreed in September, GVC has bought over bwin, although the deal still has to be approved by shareholders. As part of the £1.1billion takeover, GVC will also acquire bwin’s assets, which include Cashcade – the bingo platform behind the popular Foxy brand. According to reports in the Telegraph, various trade buyers interested in purchasing Cashcade have already approached GVC.
GVC’s chief executive Kenny Alexander has revealed that that the company has also received interest from potential bidders for bwin’s US facing business and its Kalixa payment processing service. However, Mr Alexander told the Telegraph that talks had not gone past preliminary meetings.
Shareholders to vote
As the bwin.party takeover has still to receive shareholders’ seal of approval, Mr Alexander explained that his priorities lie with completing the bwin.party acquisition, ensuring the takeover runs smoothly and reversing the revenue decline that bwin is currently experiencing. The takeover battle for bwin.party lasted months with GVC initially having a number of bids rejected. Competitor 888 Holdings originally had a bid accepted, however, GVC improved its offer and finally had a bid accepted by the board at the beginning of September. GVC Holdings expects to have the deal finalised by the end of the year.