888 Holdings purchased Bwin.party for £898m

The gaming world has finally seen the result of long and tiring discussions between 888 and Bwin.party which have been lasting since May. Fortunately online gambling firm 888 Holdings won the battle and purchased the competitor the stock of which is valued at £908 m.

It is interesting that GVC Holdings has evaluated Bwin at £908m earlier this month while 888 Holdings values both a stock bid and rival cash at 104.09p each. Moreover William Hill the largest UK bookmaker wanted to add online casino and online poker 888 to its strong market position in sports betting but the deal wasn’t successful as 888 turned aside a takeover bid.

By the way two companies are going to complete the following deal at the beginning of the next year and expect to deliver cost savings at $70m (£45m) each year till the end of 2018 financial year. In addition to it Bwin will own about 48.9% of the increased group. When the deal will be completed a Bwin independent non-executive director and chair of the company’s audit and risk committee Liz Catchpole and chief financial officer Martin Weigold will join the company’s board. They will take the positions of an independent non-executive director and a non-executive director, respectively. Norbert Teufelberger who is Bwin’s chief executive is not going to join the new company but he will help the board through consultancy services.

Executive chairman of gambling firm Brian Mattingley is very glad the case has turned out to be successful and dreams the company will be able to use this chance for consolidating online gaming industry which will grow over the next years.

More news about casinos holdings expansion read here: NetEnt expands it activity on PokerStars and in Italy!