27 Jul 2015 07:00
GVC Holdings PLC
("GVC" or the "Group" or the "Company")
Update re Offer discussions
The directors of GVC note the recent press speculation concerning a potential proposal by the Company to acquire bwin.party digital entertainment plc ("bwin.party") that has followed the Company's announcement on 21 July 2015 that the GVC Board is considering the Company's options regarding bwin.party. That announcement itself followed the announcement issued on Friday 17th July 2015 by 888 Holdings plc ("888") concerning 888's recommended offer for bwin.party at 104.09p per bwin.party share (based on the 888 closing price on 16th July 2015 of 160 pence per 888 share).
The GVC Board confirms that the Company has made a proposal to the Board of bwin.party for the acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of bwin.party, under which bwin.party shareholders would be entitled to receive 122.5p for each bwin.party share, consisting of up to 25p in cash (subject to confirmation by bwin.party that the cash position of bwin.party is as GVC expects based on information received to date), and the balance of the value in new GVC ordinary shares (the "Proposal").
The Company would finance the Proposal via a combination of the issuance of new GVC shares, to bwin.party shareholders, and a €400m senior secured loan provided by affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. In addition, the Company intends to raise circa £150m through an equity placing of new GVC shares for cash in order to fund restructuring costs, the refinancing of existing bwin.party debt and for additional working capital purposes. The Company has delivered the relevant documentation, in substantially final form, to the Board of bwin.party.
If a transaction were to be completed, the GVC Board believes that cost reductions exceeding €135 million per annum would be achieved across the enlarged group by the end of 2017.
There can be no certainty that an offer for bwin.party will be made by the Company. GVC reserves the right to amend the cash component of any offer.
The GVC Board will update shareholders in due course.
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For further information:
Cenkos Securities plc (Nomad & Broker) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7397 8900 |
Mark Connelly, Stephen Keys, Camilla Hume
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Houlihan Lokey (Financial Adviser) David Sola | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7839 3355 |
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Media enquiries:
Bell Pottinger | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3772 2496 |
David Rydell, James Newman |
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About GVC Holdings PLC
GVC Holdings PLC is a leading e-gaming operator in both b2c and b2b markets. Its core brands are CasinoClub, Betboo and Sportingbet. The Group has over 700 employees/consultants and is headquartered in the Isle of Man and has licenses in Malta, Denmark, UK, South Africa, Italy, Alderney and the Dutch Caribbean.
Further information on the Group is available at www.gvc-plc.com