Home / Poker News July 2015 / 888 Holdings Purchase bwin.party
888 Holdings Purchase bwin.party
Posted by: Randy Williams - Sat, 2015-07-18 02:16
888 Holdings are looking to take their operation to the next level by picking up bwin.party for the sum of $1.4 billion. Indeed, bwin.party has apparently been on the market for a while, with a number of high-profile operators looking to buy it up and to add their assets to their own. Months of bidding wars and hard negotiations ensued, among operators like Amaya Gaming (the parent company behind
PokerStars), GVC Holdings, 888 Holdings and others. Eventually, on July 17, it all came to an end as 888 Holdings made the announcement that they had indeed purchased bwin.party for $1.4 billion.
According to 888 Holdings' COO Itai Freiberger, the purchase marks a historic moment for his company as well as for bwin.party, as it has resulted in the creation of one of the leading operators of the global online gaming industry.
As part of the deal, bwin.party shareholders will be compensated with 38.45 pence per share in cash and they will receive 0.404 in 888 shares.
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According to Freiberger, the primary goal of the purchase was to consolidate 888's position in online poker and online gambling, while looking to accomplish some much-needed growth in the highly competitive vertical of online sports betting. Obviously, it also has to be noted that the move will greatly increase the 888 footprint in regulated markets.
The negotiations regarding the takeover kicked off way back in November 2014 and besides the companies named above, other online gaming giants, like Ladbrokes and PlayTech showed interest as well. In January 2015, William Hill jumped in as well, attempting to take control of 888 Holdings through a $1.14 billion move of its own.
One of the immediate results of the move will have 888 re-enter some of the regulated markets it has recently left.
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