Launches and sign-ups 22 July 2015
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (16 July 2015 to 22 July 2015)
888 beats GVC Holdings in race to acquire bwin.party
Operator clinches “transformational” £898m deal for the Gibraltar-based firm despite offering a lower price than rival bidder GVC
888 Holdings has beaten GVC in the race for bwin.party after announcing an agreement to acquire the beleaguered operator in a deal worth nearly £900m.
Under the terms of the agreement 888 will pay 104.09p per share, less than the 110p proposed by GVC last week, for the Gibraltar-based operator via its 888 Acquisitions subsidiary and will finance the cash consideration through a US$600m term loan credit facility.
In an RNS announcement, both 888 and bwin.party said the combined group would create significant cost synergies to the tune of over US$70m annually by the end of 2018 and was considering a move to spin-off bwin.party’s in-house technology business into a separate entitty.
Bwin.party said its directors believe 888’s offer providers “a higher degree of certainty” for its shareholders when compared to GVC’s bid, despite the latter offering a “modest incremental premium”.
GVC “not ruling anything out” in bwin.party battle
GVC Holdings looks set to table an improved offer to acquire bwin.party in a bid to trump 888, which on Friday revealed it had agreed an £898m deal to buy the beleaguered operator.
eGaming Review understands GVC was caught off guard by last week’s announcement, having been confident it would complete its proposed £906m deal “within weeks”.
“We thought we were in pole position” a GVC source close to the negotiations told eGR. “Something changed last week and they [bwin.party] seem to be accepting a poorer offer.”
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Marathonbet strikes Liverpool FC sponsorship deal
Online sportsbook Marathonbet has announced a three-year deal with Premier League football club Liverpool FC to become the club’s new regional betting partner.
The sponsorship agreement sees the operator provide in-stadium branding and exposure to Liverpool’s digital platforms for the start of the 2015-16 football season. The deal stretches to all markets bar Asia, Australia, Brazil, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
The announcement comes after last month eGaming Review revealed Marathonbet was in discussions with a number of high-profile Barclays Premier League team’s including Liverpool and Manchester United.
BetVictor launches in-house built cash out
BetVictor has launched an in-house developed cash out product as the Gibraltar-based bookie continues to revamp its core sports betting product ahead of the start of the new football season.
Cash out, which gives customers the opportunity to take a profit or cut their losses based on an in-play valuation of their open bet, was made available to UK-based BetVictor customers last week and can be accessed via mobile, tablet and desktop.
Customers can currently only cash out on five of the most popular football markets, including win-draw-win, correct score and both teams to score, although the functionality will soon be rolled out to more sports and bet types.
Betfair signs Premier League partnership deal
Betfair has signed a sponsorship agreement with Sunderland AFC, in a deal which extends the operator’s portfolio of Premier League betting partners.
The relationship will see Betfair become Sunderland’s UK betting partner and will use the club’s platforms to connect with fans and appear on the club’s LED screens and interview backdrops.
The deal adds to Betfair’s roster of Premier League partnerships which includes agreements with Liverpool and Aston Villa, as well as advertising packages with Sky Sports and BT Sports.
William Hill launches £50m Prem League jackpot campaign
William Hill is offering customers the chance to win a £50m jackpot on upcoming Premier League football season as the operator bids to be “front and centre in people’s minds” ahead of the big kick-off.
Customers can enter the Prem Predictor 2015-16 competition in shop, online and via mobile at a cost of £2p per entry, with a maximum of 250 entries per person and a cap of 1m total entries.
The £50m prize pot will be shared equally if more than one person correctly predicts the final positions of all 20 clubs and, in the event of no correct guesses, a £100,000 consolation prize will be paid to the person with the closest entry.
FDJ to invest €13m in tech start-ups
French operator la Française des Jeux (FDJ) has announced it plans to invest €13m in local tech start-ups in a bid to boost its in-house innovation and technology capabilities.
FDJ has teamed-up with tech-focused venture capital firm Partech International for the venture and will pump €5m and €8m into two technology and start-up focused seed funds owned by Partech.
The move forms part of the FDJ’s ‘2020’ campaign, a strategy designed to overhaul its digital services and provide what the firm described as a “comprehensive customer experience” across all channels.