After some weeks of silence whilst GVC has been upping its offer for Bwin-Party, rival bidder 888 Holdings plc issued a statement on Thursday indicating that it stands on its earlier proposal, which the Board of Bwin-Party continue to recommend.
The statement noted that the 888 board of directors “…continues to believe that the combination of the 888 and bwin.party businesses announced on 17 July 2015 under the 888 management team would generate significant value for both sets of shareholders.”
The statement reprises the fact that following a detailed due diligence exercise, 888 made an offer comprising a significant cash component along with an approximate 49 percent ownership interest in the combined business.
It notes that: “This offer was unanimously recommended by bwin.party. The Board continues to believe that its offer is of significantly greater intrinsic value than the proposal outlined by GVC Holdings plc on 24 August 2015.
“The Board notes that it remains the unanimously recommended bidder and continues to work towards the completion of the proposed transaction.
“888 publishes its interim results for the 6 months to 30 June 2015 on 28 August 2015 and anticipates publishing a prospectus and shareholder circular in relation to the proposed transaction on the same day.”