888 Holdings looking to buy bwin.party

According to an official statement released on May 18, 888 Holdings is interested in buying bwin.party and has already submitted a draft regarding the business. 

In November we have reported about Financial Times Alphaville's news that the owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt, Amaya Gaming has made a £1.2 billion offer for bwin.party.

Bwin.party has declined the sale of the company, but they confirmed that there are several negotiations in the works. On March 11, Philip Yea, a management member has stated that the negotiations have reached the "next level". In addition to Amaya, Playtech, Ladbrokes, Apollo Global Management (co-owners of Caesars Entertainment) and William Hill have also expressed interest in buying the company.

On May 18 the company made released an official statement, which confirmed that 888 Holdings is also interested in buying the company, and they have already submitted a draft for the transaction.

According to the release, it would be a logical business decision for 888 and bwin.party to merge, because it would help both companies and every shareholder. 888 has proposed to pay for the company with cash and 888 shares.

888 has added that since the transaction is significant, 59% of the shareholders have to approve the offer.

According to bwin.party's yearly report, the company's income has dropped from €652,4 million to €611.9 million in 2014, closing the year with a minus of €94.3 million, which is a big drop compared to the 2013 numbers (€41.1 million profit).

The most valueable asset of the company is their sports betting site, but the online poker section can also be attractive. PartyPoker is currently 6th biggest site on the .COM/.EU market and they are also present on the legalized USA market.

Cover Photo by CalvinAyre