THE £1bn buyout battle for Bwin.party is expected to take a twist this week as the gambling company looks set to dump one suitor, 888, for rival GVC Holdings.
City sources said that GVC, the owner of Sportingbet, tabled an offer worth about £1bn on Friday in an effort to take control of Bwin, owner of Foxy Bingo.
The offer is expected to catapult GVC back into the lead in the fiercely contested takeover tussle. The offer from 888 had been recommended for acceptance to shareholders by Bwin.
GVC and 888 have fought over Bwin throughout the summer. In July, GVC was first to lay its cards on the table with a cash and shares offer worth 110p a share, roughly £900m.
GVC was then usurped by 888, although it tabled a lower cash and shares offer valuing Bwin at 104.9p.
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Bwin doubted GVC’s ability to finance the takeover, as well as the €135m (£98m) in cost savings it said it could achieve.
GVC has since worked tirelessly on improving its bid, ditching Canadian partner Amaya and teaming up with the American hedge fund and private equity giant Cerberus.
This month it detailed an offer of 125½p a share — now worth slightly more because of a rise in GVC’s share price.
Last week Bwin said it was now satisfied about “key aspects” of GVC’s new bid and