888 COO cranks up pressure in bwin battle
COO Itai Frieberger says his firm's offer is a "much better option" and that talks of a GVC hostile takeover are "crazy"
888 COO Itai Frieberger warned bwin.party not to make a mistake and said the firm faced a “final chance” to pick the right bid with the offer tabled by 888 a “much better option” than GVC.
“They have to be careful what they wish for, because they just might get it with GVC,” Frieberger said. “We are the much better option and in the long-term will be able to create significantly more value.
“888 is bigger and more diversified than GVC, operating in more territories with a business that is much more similar to bwin.party,” he added.
Frieberger’s comments come just days after 888 tabled a revised proposal to acquire bwin.party, in response to bwin.party preparing to announce GVC as its preferred bidder over the weekend.
888’s revised proposal is believed to be around 115p per share, an increase of 10p per share on its earlier offer but still lower than the 131p valuation from GVC.
But Frieberger says bwin.party shouldn’t just focus on which operator is prepared to pay the highest price but rather which offers the best strategy for growth post acquisition.
“With a company like bwin.party it’s not enough to just replace management,” Frieberger told eGR. “You need to do something drastic.”
“We can do far more than GVC in terms of integrating the two businesses, driving growth, and creating significant value,” he added.
If 888 remains the preferred bidder despite submitting a lower offer, GVC chairman Lee Feldman said the operator would consider a hostile takeover, a move Frieberger described as “crazy”.
“I don’t know why they are being so aggressive,” Frieberger said. “It needs to stop – whoever is chosen as the successful bidder will reflect bwin.party’s shareholder view,” he added.
Frieberger has previously said 888 would not enter into a bidding war with GVC and that he is not looking to acquire bwin.party through necessity but rather the “huge upsides for both businesses”.
“It has been a very unusual process, and really it needs to end,” Frieberger said. “All three parties – 888, bwin.party and GVC have made mistakes. But I hope that bwin.party will make the right decision.”
While bwin.party has set no firm date for when it will update the market next, eGR understands an announcement will be made within a week, with tomorrow thought to be earmarked as a possible date.