Entain formerly GVC Holdings, is a British sports betting and gambling company which owns brands such as Bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker, and Sportingbet. The firm’s investors have rejected a takeover bid by U.S. casino operator MGM Resorts International ending a protracted attempt to buy the company.
The Las Vegas headquartered firm behind venues including the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, MGM Grand Las Vegas and Empire City Casino had its $11.1 billion attempt to buy the U.K. betting company rejected after investor concerns that the proposition was undervaluing the London listed firm by as much as 7%.
MGM Resorts International reportedly declared that it had decided to cancel its pursuit of Entain ‘after careful consideration and having reflected on the limited recent engagement between the respective companies regarding [the] rejected all-stock proposal.’
Chief Executive Officer for MGM Resorts International Bill Hornbuckle was said to have explained that the pair would continue to partner through their the Roar Digital joint venture to run the BetMGM online sports betting service in multiple jurisdictions across the USA.
CEO Hornbuckle commented on the decision, “BetMGM, our United States sports betting and online gaming venture with Entain, remains a key priority for the company as we continue to leverage our preeminent physical gaming, entertainment and hospitality platform to expand digitally. We believe that BetMGM has established itself as a top-three leader in its markets and we remain committed to working with Entain to ensure its strong momentum continues as it expects to be operational in 20 states by the end of 2021.”
MGM Resorts International also proclaimed that it ‘is committed to being a premier global omni-channel gaming and entertainment company’ but was unwilling to increase its bid for Entain owing to a desire to ‘maintain a disciplined framework while evaluating a range of compelling strategic opportunities.’
