Entain CEE, a joint venture of London-listed Entain and privately-held Emma Capital, has made an agreed tender offer to acquire all shares in STS Holdings, a Warsaw-listed Polish sports-betting operator, for GBP750mn (€876mn), the company said on June 13.

The offer price is PLN24.8 (€5.52) per share,  a 15% premium above the company's valuation from the preceding day on the Warsaw Stock Exchange when its shares closed at PLN21.5.

Zbigniew Juroszek and his son Mateusz Juroszek, who own nearly 70% of STS's share capital, agreed to sell their shares in the offer, Poland’s state-owned newswire PAP reported. They will also reinvest some of their proceeds into Entain CEE for a 10% stake in the joint venture. Mateusz Juroszek, the CEO of STS, will remain in his role and join the board of Entain CEE.

"We believe that investors should respond to the tender offer, as the offered price is 15% higher than the [June 13] market price and 22% higher than our valuation," Mikolaj Stepien, an analyst at DM BOS, told PAP.

"If the tender offer for the remaining 30% of shares is successful – as it probably will be, taking into account the acceptance of majority shareholders – STS will most likely be withdrawn from the WSE," Stepien added.

The company's share price has been on the rise on June 14, reaching PLN23.95 – a gain of 11.4% – in the early afternoon.

Entain CEE is a joint venture between Entain and its partner Emma Capital in Central and Eastern Europe. 

"STS is the number one sports-betting operator in Poland and will add another leading business to Entain CEE, which is expected to provide attractive synergies for our CEE platform," Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, said in a statement. The acquisition is expected to generate over GBP10mn of annual synergies from 2024 for Entain CEE. 

Entain is a company that is part of the FTSE 100 index and one of the world's largest groups in the betting and gaming industry, operating both online and in the retail sector.

The group has a rich portfolio of brands, including: BetCity, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds, Sportingbet, Sports Interaction and SuperSport. It also own gaming brands Foxy Bingo, Gala, GiocoDigitale, Ninja Casino, Optibet, Partypoker, and PartyCasino.

Entain shares Entain  fell 10.5% in trading in London at the start of trading on June 14 over fears that the group had overpaid. According to analysts, the deal valued STS at almost 11 times its Ebitda, Reuters reported.

Emma Capital is the personal vehicle of Jiri Smejc, CEO of PPF, the largest Czech private financial group.

Entain and EMMA will finance the tender in proportion to their current stake in Entain CEE, which is 75% and 25%, respectively.

The proposed acquisition is subject to antitrust approval and is expected to complete in the third quarter.

 

 

 

 

©2023 bne IntelliNews , source Magazine