A senior executive with 888 Holding plc (LSE:888) has told "Globes", "We have to keep on trying," referring to the company's attempts to acquire another company, at least its own size, and join the extensive merger and acquisition trend in the online gambling industry. Last summer, 888 tried to acquire Bwin.Party, and lost to GVC.
During the past few weeks, the company tried to acquire UK bookmaker William Hill (LSE: WMH), together with the British casino operator Rank Group (LSE: RNK) for $4 billion, in a fairly complex deal involving cash and shares. This attempt failed and 888 got the cold shoulder from William Hill, even after slightly improving its bid. Last week, 888, controlled by Israel's Shaked family, and Rank announced that talks with William Hill were terminated, and that they will not be making another, enhanced, bid. 888 is being traded at a market cap of $1.0 billion, and Rank is traded at a market cap of $1.1 billion.
It may not be surprising that the pressure not to be left behind other giant players has had an effect, and that the companies do not rule out a merger, even without William Hill.
As Rank unveiled its annual results, the company’s CEO Henry Birch told the UK newspaper "The Times" that he does not rule out a merger with 888. "Such a deal would not be unreasonable," said Birch. "We are currently in the 'no comment' zone, but the same rationale that brought us to attempt the triple merger is valid for a merger only with 888."
888 did not comment on Birch's estimates, but we will not be surprised if its management is of the same opinion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 24, 2016
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