GVC in B2B boost one year after Superbahis deal
Operator publishes prospectus following Sportingbet acquisition.
GVC Holdings has recorded a 31.3% rise in B2B revenues in the first quarter with full-quarter comparatives, the AIM-listed operator has announced in its trading update for the year ended 31 December.
The B2B unit was created around the time of the acquisition of Sportingbet’s Turkish business Superbahis by GVC partner East Pioneer Corporation (EPC) in November 2011, and the fourth quarter of 2011 saw the operator derive 68,400 of its 178,400 average daily revenues from the division compared to 52,100 in Q4 2011.
Meanwhile, GVC has also published a prospectus in relation to its joint takeover of Sportingbet along with William Hill. An agreement for a £454m takeover was reached on 20 December, 24 hours before the four-times-extended deadline.
The agreement will see Hills acquire Sportingbet’s Australian business as well as the Spanish-facing miapuesta brand, while the London-listed operator will be granted a call option over Sportingbet’s Spanish business.
Following the acceptance of the prospectus by the UK Listing Authority trading in GVC shares is anticipated to be resumed on Monday morning after having been suspended in October when Hills and GVC were given their first extension over the Sportingbet offer.
In addition to GVC’s year-on-year B2B revenue growth, the operator’s B2C arm also saw revenues rise by 3.8% year-on-year and 10.9% month-on-month.
Following this B2B growth the amount payable to Sportingbet “ in relation to the EPC deal in 2011 “ came to 27.3m for the full year, of which 8.42m stemmed from fourth-quarter revenues.
GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander said: “The amounts of deferred consideration payable to Sportingbet in relation to the Superbahis business were in 2012 27.3 million and therefore highly material for the Group.
“Should the acquisition of Sportingbet proceed, the mitigation of deferred consideration payable should be transformational for GVC,” he added.