A 22bn bid for Entain may be the tipping point that sees the former GVC Holdings company change hands and fall under US ownership. (Photo by Naser Tamimi on Unsplash)
Entain, the company behind Ladbrokes and Coral, have confirmed that they have turned down a bid of over $22bn/£16bn which works out as £28 per share. This comes after a previous bid of around £25 per share was turned down earlier this month, both of which coming from US gambling giants DraftKings according to Reuters. The interest in Entain from DraftKings stems back to when Entain was GVC Holdings and it seems that DraftKings wants to climb to the top of the umbrella and rule the roost in online sports betting and iGaming entertainment.
The most recent bid coming on the 19th September is thought to be worth £6.30 cash of each share with the remainder comprised of common class A shares and serves as 46.2% premium on the operator closing share price from September 20th. Along with this statement announcing the bid came with a chance for the Entain board to talk up the business’ future, stating that the company is the industry leader for technology and has world-class management; could this be an attempt to entice further bids?
Earlier this year Entain was subject to a $11bn bid from its US venture partner MGM Resorts International, a bid that Entain chairman said underestimated its business, MGM has since not returned with any further bids. This takeover bid comes as no surprise after earlier this year we saw 888 acquire William Hill‘s international assets, a move that is just the latest in a line of US companies looking to join the online betting world after the recent change in US gambling laws. Practically all of Entain’s net gaming income up 28.4% at £1.59bn from 2020 was made on the web. This overall was £1.56b after VAT.
In the main portion of the year, Entain saw its H1 2021 income become 12.2% to £1.77bn or €2.09bn/$2.45bn, and profit over two times. Although, it saw a 34% drop in income from Germany because of the nation’s progress system for internet gaming. DraftKings anyway is probably going to acquire a yearly income in abundance of $6bn. The company brought its income up 282.3% from 2020 in H1 in the wake of recording a half-year income of $609.8m. Before releasing its H1 results, the administrator declared an arrangement with Fertitta Entertainment Inc to gain 100% of Golden Nugget Online Gaming in a $1.56bn all-stock arrangement.
Elsewhere, MGM has since announced that it has no plan to sell its stake in BetMGM. A rumour that has been flying around the casino grapevine, but one that seems unlikely as BetMGM is iconic to the brand, plus it is back to profitable ways as global as well as domestic travel opens up which is bringing more players to MGM owned land-based establishments while its online endeavours are also very profitable in the states it operates iGaming deals.
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