Online gambling operator bwin.party digital entertainment plc announced earlier today that Emerald Bay Limited and Stinson Ridge Limited, two of its largest shareholders, had decided to place about 50 million shares in the company. They represent around 6% of bwin.party’s free float.
Although the gambling operator is not a party to the arrangements, it confirmed that those were in line with both Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge’s obligations to flog their holdings before the end of this October under certain terms that both parties had agreed on. Those terms were disclosed by the gaming company back at the end of October 2013.
Philip Yea, Chairman of bwin.party, said in a statement that they welcome the announcement about Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge’s placing, as this would provide Board members with information about the current state of the market regarding a considerable block of shares that were to be sold sometime in 2015.
Mr. Yea further commented that the share sale is not related in any way to the ongoing discussions over the takeover proposals from third parties. The official pointed out that the fact that bwin.party’s Board is currently reviewing each of the bids does not necessarily mean that this would result in a transaction. More information on the matter is expected to be revealed in the near future.
bwin.party was put for sale in November 2014. In May, gambling operator GVC Holdings announced that it had approached its bigger gaming rival. Its €1.5 billion bid was backed by major gaming company Amaya Gaming. Experts pointed out that if a deal between the two operators is inked, the takeover would be a reverse one.
A few days later, 888 Holdings, too, placed its bid for bwin.party. If the two companies eventually merge together, the new entity’s worth is expected to total more than £1 billion. Furthermore, the operators would be able to cut licensing and advertising costs in a number of regulated markets.
Back then, the discussions over a potential takeover resulted in bwin.party’s shares soaring over 10% to 109.8 pence. However, it seems that all the gains that were made in May were given up today, as bwin.party’s shares dropped more than 10% to 93.2 pence. This was attributed to the announcement about Emerald Bay and Stinson Ridge’s placing.
