888 ups the ante in battle to acquire bwin.party

888 upped the stakes in its battle with GVC Holdings this morning with the Gibraltar-based firm submitting a revised proposal to acquire bwin.party in its entirety.

Bwin.party issued a statement this morning confirming it had received the revised proposal, but neither 888 nor bwin.party offered any specific detail on the value or structure of the bid.

Bwin.party said it was evaluating 888’s proposal together with one received from GVC back in August, and intends to consult with its shareholders “in the coming days” before making a final decision.

Last week bwin.party called on GVC to submit its “best offer” for the operator after a week of sabre-rattling in the media by the Sportingbet owner.

But despite GVC chief exec Kenneth Alexander telling eGaming Review on Friday that his firm would submit a revised bid later that day and expected to win the battle for bwin.party, no concrete offer has been announced.

In its statement, bwin.party said the board’s unanimous recommendation of 888’s £900m offer remains unchanged by the announcement.

Last week bwin.party chief exec Norbert Teufelberger said 888’s proposed takeover of his firm could complete as early as January if shareholders continue to back 888’s bid.