888 looks set to strike £900m deal
Deal lawyers took little respite over the summer as the traditional lull failed to materialise. One deal that kept teams at Magic Circle duo Allen & Overy (A&O) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer busy was the bidding battle between 888 and GVC Holdings for online gambling company Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.
The two bidders competed to acquire the gaming company after Bwin kicked off an auction process earlier this year. The showdown saw an offer from 888 recommended by Bwin’s board in July, despite the online outfit offering a lower price than rival GVC for the FTSE 250-listed company. The £898m proposal from 888 gave Bwin shareholders 39.45p in cash and 0.404 new 888 shares per stake. But, the deal is yet to complete, with GVC set to increase its offer to around £1bn at the time of press.
Freshfields represented Bwin, with corporate partners Piers Prichard Jones and Christopher Mort working on the deal. Freshfields also advised on the 2010 merger that created the present company, but acted for PartyGaming, with Clifford Chance advising Bwin on that deal.
Previously a client of Freshfields, 888 turned to an A&O team led by corporate partners Edward Barnett and Annabelle Croker, with financing covered by partners Denise Gibson and Jake Keaveny, and with partner James Roe acting on capital markets matters. The City office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom picked up work from one of the founding shareholders of 888, with a team led by M&A partner Michal Berkner.
A&O’s Barnett commented: ‘We developed a relationship with 888 over the last 18-24 months. Our bid was recommended because it was more certain that it would be approved by target shareholders. There has been more consistent deal activity this year and there is a strong sense of confidence in the M&A market. More money is available in the private equity community and debt can be raised for the right deals.’
The drawn-out battle was just one of many deals taking place in the gaming industry over the summer, with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher acting for UK bookmaker William Hill on its 29% acquisition of online lottery provider NeoGames, while in July, Slaughter and May acted for Ladbrokes on its £2.3bn tie-up with Ashurst-client Gala Coral Group.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk