IS BWIN EYEING SPORTINGBET AGAIN?

29 February 2008

Late afternoon rumours abound in London


The Independent newspaper's business pages report that persistent late afternoon rumours were circulating Friday that Sportingbet, the online gambling and gaming company which operates in Europe and Australia, is again an acquisition target for Bwin Interactive, the Vienna-listed Austrian gaming firm which abandoned a round of takeover talks with the company last year.

The speculation was that an approach was likely to be made as early as the coming week.

Last time around, Bwin was ready to table a 70p per share offer for Sportingbet.

The Independent points out that while a number of prospective deals, including the one between Ladbrokes and 888.com, and the last round of negotiations between Sportingbet and Bwin, have failed owing to legal or regulatory hurdles, some analysts have continued to argue the case for consolidation in the sector.

Update: BWIN Interactive Entertainment AG does not want to comment on "market rumours" that it is mulling a new bid for Sportingbet PLC, a company spokesman said.

The Sunday Express newspaper reported last weekend that its undisclosed sources expect BWIN to place a bid of 70 pence a share for Sportingbet within the next few weeks.

Bwin tabled a 65 pence a share offer for Sportingbet in March 2006, but talks between the two online gaming providers collapsed four months later.

At the time, Bwin attributed the collapse of the talks to the fact that regulatory and legal changes in a number of markets in which the companies operated made it impossible for them to agree on terms.

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