Month: December 2021

Last month, Blackstone submitted an unsolicited and non-binding proposal that valued the Crown business at approximately AUD$8.46bn (£4.52bn/€5.31bn/US$6.01) and would see group pay $12.50 in cash per each Crown share.

Blackstone currently holds a 9.99% stake in Crown and the takeover proposal would have seen it take full ownership of the operator.

Crown said its board considered the offer but was of the view that the proposal “did not represent compelling value for Crown shareholders”.

However, Crown’s board has now offered Blackstone the opportunity to access non-public information to allow the group to carry out initial due diligence inquiries on a non-exclusive basis to formulate a revised proposal that it said “adequately reflects the value of Crown”.

Crown noted the provision of such information is conditional on the two parties entering an appropriate confidentiality agreement, adding that there is no certainty these discussions will result in a revised proposal from Blackstone.

“The Crown board is focussed on maximising value for Crown shareholders and will carefully consider any proposal that is consistent with this objective,” Crown said.

Blackstone previously had two other takeover proposals turned down by Crown, the first of which was put forward in March this year, representing an offer of $11.85 cash per share. This was increased to $12.35, but Crown turned down the proposal saying it undervalued its business.

Crown has also had proposals from a number of other parties in recent months, including an offer from rival operator Star Entertainment Group in May to merge with Crown and create a combined operation worth approximately $12.00bn.

Crown requested further details, but the Star withdrew its proposal in June, citing concerns over ongoing regulatory processes with Crown in Victoria.

Meanwhile, alternative investment management business Oaktree Capital Management in April put forward a proposal to provide up to $3.00bn in funding for a share buy-back programme. It later increased this to $3.1bn.

Concerns over Crown’s regulatory future in Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales saw Blackstone include an implementation agreement in its proposal, setting out terms and conditions such as the necessary approvals from relevant courts and gambling regulators.

In October, Crown was deemed “unsuitable” to run a casino in Victoria after it was found to have engaged in conduct that was “illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative”, but it will not immediately lose its licence and instead face special measures in the state

Crown in February was also found to be unsuitable to operate a casino in the Barangaroo area of central Sydney after the New South Wales Casino Inquiry (Bergin Inquiry) found evidence that its facilities and accounts were used for money laundering. However, it may still be able to operate casino if it makes certain changes, including compliance and financial audits and an end to its dealings with junkets.

The Western Australia Government is also currently investigating Crown Resorts, to assess its ability to operate a casino in Perth. In July the inquiry was extended until March 2022.

The clause was also present in Blackstone’s original takeover proposal.

In her new position, Karran will play a major role in bringing Eminence products to market, using her both experience as a gaming operator and understanding of the igaming industry to support the supplier.

Karran joins Eminence having most recently served as managing director of The Knowledge Baker, an igaming-focused consultancy, prior to which she was COO at Creative Web 3D.

She also had a five-year spell as director and designated money laundering reporting officer at Red Tiger Gaming, as well as spending almost eight years as head of operations and COO of Xela Holdings.

Karan’s other roles include serving as a director at the TGP Group and also as egaming development manager for the Isle of Man Government.

“I’ve always enjoyed the pace of early stage businesses and I look forward to using my experience in this field to support Eminence to scale quickly,” Karran said. “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at this crucial time and look forward to helping to make their ambitious plans a reality.”

The appointment comes after Eminence this week also announced Mark Robson as its new chief executive. Robson previously worked for Microgaming SHFL Entertainment, Champion Sports and King Gaming.

“I’m delighted to welcome Lisa to the senior management team, her broad experience and skills are going to be invaluable to us in meeting our ambitious growth targets,” Robson said.

Issued by the Virginia Lottery, the licence will enable 888 to launch a sportsbook product in Virginia via its partnership with monthly magazine Sports Illustrated. 888 in June this year announced a strategic partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the owner of Sports Illustrated, to extend the magazine brand into betting and gaming.

The first SI Sportsbook was unveiled in Colorado in September 2021 and the new licence will also allow for the launch of an SI Sportsbook in Virginia in 2022.

“This is an important milestone for 888 which enhances our foothold in the US online sports betting and igaming market,” 888’s senior vice president and head of US, Yaniv Sherman, said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The Macau government announced Chau, alongside ten others, had been arrested on 27 November, claiming he had  set up a cross-border gambling syndicate, illegally arranging for Chinese residents to travel overseas on VIP gambling junkets.

With this news, trading in SunCity as well as at its subsidiary Summit Ascent, which operates the Tigre de Cristal resort in Vladivostok in Russia, was halted ahead of the release of further news.

After Macau’s prosecution court then approved mandatory detention measures for Chau, due to “the serious nature of the above crimes”, he announced that he would resign from his positions at both SunCity and Summit Ascent.

SunCity and Summit Ascent both noted that neither company is aware of any investigations on the businesses or any subsidiaries, directors or staff members.

However, SunCity has now announced today (1 December) that trading of its shares on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong has been halted again as of “pending the release of an announcement on news coverage in relation to VIP business carried out in Macau”. 

The Macau government announced today that the Bureau of Gaming Supervision (DICJ) has received notice that SunCity will temporarily close its VIP lounge business from the early hours of this morning (1 December). The business operated lounges at all six gaming concessionaires in Macau. The DICJ added that it could not comment on the ongoing case.

The Finalto sale “meets a key condition” of Aristocrat’s offer to acquire all of the remaining Playtech business. Aristocrat and Playtech will now work together to complete the acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2022. The final details such as seeking regulatory approval are said to be “progressing well”.

Aristocrat CEO and managing director Trevor Croker, said: “The approval given by Playtech shareholders to dispose of Finalto meets a condition of Aristocrat’s recommended offer and is a further step forward in the completion process.”

Finalto had been the subject of several bids over the summer period. Playtech initially agreed to sell the division to Barinboim Consrtium in May for $210m, before Gopher Investments made its interest known with a rival bid. After Barinboim’s bid was rejected by shareholders, Playtech’s board approved Gopher’s offer.

Then, in October, Aristocrat had a £2.7bn bid for Playtech accepted on an enterprise value basis, which would see Aristocrat pay 680 pence for each Playtech share in an all-cash agreement. Aristocrat believed this would provide the business with “material scale” in both the igaming and online sports betting segments.

Gopher, however, looked to hijack Aristocrat’s bid, making an offer of its own to acquire Playtech last month. However, last week, it withdrew from the running.

Playtech also received a preliminary approach from JKO Play, a company headed by Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan and Keith O’Loughlin, although talks never progressed past early stages.

Playtech published the scheme document for the Aristocrat acquisition in November, outlining the company’s reasons for accepting the Australian company’s bid.

“Aristocrat’s offer for Playtech has been recommended by the Playtech board, and is the only offer on the table for shareholders,” Croker addded. “We believe that Aristocrat’s offer provides an attractive value and enhanced regulatory and financial certainty for Playtech shareholders, while the combined group will also provide greater opportunities for Playtech employees in a leading global organisation.”

Fanteam, which first launched in 2015, will now be available in 20 states, including California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas.

Its site will give bettors access to B2B liquidity platform Scout Gaming Network, which offers $20m worth of prizes each year.

The site has grown to be the largest European daily fantasy sports site on the market.

Fanteam will offer a set of daily fantasy sports products, which will allow patrons to place bets on a variety of competitions – from top-tier competitions to local leagues.

“We have seen an increased demand for our products and has decided that time is right for an US entry,” said Andreas Ternström, CEO of Scout Gaming.

“Since we took the decision last year to increase the effort and focus we are putting on Fanteam, this opportunity has arisen. After DraftKings and FanDuel, we offer the largest prize pools on a global basis, for European sports such as soccer, we are the global market leader.”

In October Scout Gaming announced the addition of Betano to its network of operators.

Earlier this year, video game lifestyle brand Razer agreed to partner with Scout Gaming to create a fantasy esports app.

The businesses said the new joint venture will provide greyhound racing to operators and various other industry stakeholders.

“We are thrilled to be launching Premier Greyhound Racing with our partners Arena Racing Company,” Richard Lang, director of commercial retail at Entain, said. “This new venture clearly demonstrates Entain’s commitment to the sport of greyhound racing and our desire to see it flourish in the years ahead for the benefit of our customers and fans everywhere.”  

Through the agreement between the businesses, Entain is set to increase the amount of content its brands take from Arena Racing Company tracks to between eight and ten fixtures per week.

From 1 January 2024 onward, Entain brands will then exclusively take greyhound content from Premier Greyhound Racing.

Plans for the joint venture were first announced in March of this year, alongside a new media rights deal between the businesses. 

At the time, Entertain chief procurement officer Adrian Bower said the joint venture would provide “certainty to both parties for the benefit of both horse racing and greyhound racing, as well as helping them navigate the Covid challenges and emerge stronger”.

In addition to the joint venture, both Entain and ARC have pledged a “significant prize money investment” in the sport, which will see upwards of £2.5m (€2.9m/$3.3m) added to prize pools in 2022, as well as investments into greyhound welfare research.

“We are delighted to work with Entain and take the next step forward in the establishment of Premier Greyhound Racing,” Kevin Robertson, managing director of Arena Racing Company’s media and international division, said. “Equally, in the shorter term, we are really pleased to have come together to make these significant investments into our open race programme over the year, as well as contributing to the ongoing research into greyhound welfare.”

The acquisition was first agreed in October.

Under the deal, Esports Technologies will own Aspire’s B2C online content portfolio and sportsbook brands.

Aspire will run back-end operations for the acquired brands, which include Karamba, Hopa and BetTarget.

Also through the deal, Esports Technologies will enter into tier one regulated markets including Great Britain, Germany and Denmark as the deal gives it access to Aspire’s licences in those countries.

“Acquiring Aspire Global’s portfolio of innovative B2C brands, access to new markets, and its 1.25 million depositing customers is a strategic leap in our journey to become a world leader in esports wagering,” said Aaron Speach, CEO of Esports Technologies.

“We look forward to our partnership with Aspire as we continue to scale.”

Aspire reported B2C revenue of $78.3m in the full year ended 30 September a rise of 43.0% year-on-year. Also in this period, Aspire’s B2C business reported wagering stakes of $1.86bn.

“Esports Technologies has rapidly established itself as one of the foremost innovators in esports wagering,” said Tsachi Maimon, CEO of Aspire.

“Acquiring the world-class B2C portfolio we’ve built will further expand their reach in this skyrocketing global market.”

In July, Aspire appointed Quincy Raven as managing director to lead its US expansion.

The combination – first announced in June – makes Codere Online, which spun off of the wider Codere Group, the first Latin America-facing online gambling operator to go public on a US exchange.

Through the deal, Codere Online will receive gross proceeds of around $116m (£87.1m/€102.2m), or $103m after transaction-related expenses are excluded. These funds will mostly be used to expand marketing efforts in Latin America, as well as being put toward “selected investments in technology”.

“We are very excited to have completed this transaction after months of hard work and look forward to deploying the funds obtained to deliver on our mission to become one of the leading online gaming and sports betting operators in Latin America,” Moshe Edree, managing director of Codere Online, said.

The deal comes soon after the Codere Group completed a restructuring deal that handed control of the business to its creditors, after it faced widening debts due to lockdowns in its core markets and currency exchange rate changes.

Vicente Di Loreto, chief executive of the Codere Group, said the combination of these two deals will allow Codere Online to flourish on its own.

“The closing of this transaction, which follows completion of the recent financial restructuring of Codere Group, will provide Codere Online with the structure and resources needed to be successful in the high growth and rapidly changing online gaming sector,” he said.

With the closure of the deal, the new combined business has also appointed Patrick J Ramsay, lead US director and former chief digital officer for Aristocrat Technologies, as its new chairman. Ramsay also served as chief executive of Multimedia Games from 2010 until 2014 and sits on the board of technology supplier Simplebet.

 “We are thrilled to have Patrick join us in this journey that we are embarking upon,” Edree said. “His two decades of experience in our industry, with exposure to both the retail and online businesses, together with experience leading a Nasdaq-listed company, will be critical to our success. 

“We cannot think of a better-suited chairman for our board, and I am sure he will add tremendous value to our company.”

Ramsay will lead a board that also includes Edree, Codere online CFO Oscar Iglesias, Codere Group chief of strategy Alejandro Rodino, former DD3 chairman and CEO Dr. Martin M. Werner, MG Capital managing partner Daniel Valdez and independent director Laurent Teitgen.

 “Codere Online operates in the fast-growing online segment of the gaming sector and is well-positioned to execute its business plan,” Ramsay said. “I look forward to working with my fellow directors to support Moshe and his team as they pursue the exceptional opportunities that lie ahead.”

Under the deal, Sportradar will become PointsBet’s US supplier of choice for Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, college football and college basketball data.

The agreement covers a range of Sportradar’s pre-match and live betting services such as pre-match odds suggestions, trading tools and live data, as well as content solutions including live match trackers and live scores to engage audiences

In addition, PointsBet will have access to the Sportradar online live streaming solution to complement its in-play betting experience.

Read the full story on iGB North America.