Bwin.Party falls for gatecrasher GVC

THE battle to woo Bwin.Party went down to the wire, the online gambling group admitted last night as it picked GVC over 888 to buy the company in a £1.1bn deal.

Bwin’s board had initially backed 888’s offer of £900m.

But GVC, which already owns Sportingbet, gatecrashed the agreement last weekend with a higher bid.

Shareholders were split over the suitors, Bwin boss Philip Yea said. He and the board tapped up investors during the week – and found them almost evenly divided between the two camps. But it was the combined voices of two of Bwin’s largest investors – Henderson Global Investors and Androsch Privatstiftung, which together own over 9pc of the company – that swung the decision.

Yea said: ‘After a carefully managed and diligent review process, the board has withdrawn its recommendation for the 888 offer and is now advising bwin.party shareholders to vote in favour of the offer from GVC.’

Some 75pc of investors in Bwin (5.2p lower at 110p) are required to back the deal for it to go ahead. But with 888 (0.5p up at 162.5p) pulling its offer, it is thought unlikely that shareholders will turn down an offer price that is 45pc above the previous share price. GVC fell 18p to 435p.

Snubbed 888, which has received a £5m break fee, is now expected by analysts to tie up with William Hill.

Analyst Simon Davies at Canaccord said 888 had rejected a bid from Hill in February ‘at a materially higher share price’, and said the appeal for a deal is now ‘considerably greater’.