Betr acquires 19.9% stake in Pointsbet
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The news: Betr has confirmed that it has acquired a 19.9% stake in Pointsbet Holdings, two months after the Pointsbet board turned down a bid from the rival wagering group.
The numbers: An ASX filing states that Betr will become the registered holder of 66,013,329 shares of Pointsbet, equivalent to a 19.9% stake of issued share capital.
The context: Over the weekend, the AFR reported that Betr was shoring up fund manager support for a $100 million-plus equity raising via Ord Minnett and Morgans to bankroll its Pointsbet offer.
Sources told the AFR that Betr’s bid was largely unchanged from its offer earlier this year, however the new raising would mean that Pointsbet’s board would not be able to claim “funding uncertainty.”
Betr’s February offer valued Pointsbet at up to $360 million, in favour of an existing $353 million proposal by Japanese sports and entertainment giant Mixi.
At the time, Pointsbet said that it had considered Bluebet's offer but determined that it "could not reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal to that announced earlier today from Mixi".
"The proposal was unfunded, subject to an explicit financing condition, and would require Bluebet to both raise $100 million in debt and undertake a large upfront capital raising ($160 million), the terms of which were uncertain and could materially affect the value ultimately received by Pointsbet shareholders," Pointsbet said in a February statement.
Betr’s statement says further detail will be provided in conjunction with an announcement in relation to the proposed capital raising.
The sources: Betr ASX announcement, AFR, Capital Brief
