The date for the completed acquisition of Gamesys Group by Bally’s Corporation has been set at 1 October, as the U.S. betting and gaming conglomerate seeks to strengthen its online gaming profile.
According to company Chair, Soo Kim, for Bally’s, the transaction represents an opportunity for the group to strengthen its standing in the expanding online betting and gaming market in the US, with a growth strategy of becoming a “premier, global, omni-channel gaming company” and creating “significant long-term shareholder value”.
Initially agreed in April of this year, the acquisition will see Bally’s acquire the entirety of Gamesys current and future issued share capital, in cooperation with Premier Entertainment.
The US sports betting and gaming conglomerate revealed that, despite still requiring approval from US counterparts, the M&A process had received regulatory approval from the UK Gambling Commission.
With the companies expecting to merge in early October, a court hearing sanctioning the transaction is scheduled for September 30.
Upon agreement earlier this year, the development saw Bally’s set back by £2bn for the UK online gaming operator, paying £18.50 per share in cash – equating to a near 40 per cent premium on the British group’s share price of £13.30 from January 25.
As a result, the two companies formed a combined group in the capital city of the US state of Rhode Island, Providence, with Gamesys now having put an end to its UK operations and delisted from the London Stock Exchange.
“This combination represents a compelling opportunity to integrate Gamesys’ market-leading gaming technology with Bally’s growing US gaming platform to create a vertically integrated company that is poised to capitalise on the rapidly expanding US online sports betting and igaming market,” highlighted Lee Fenton, CEO of Gamesys, at the time of the takeover.
With the acquisition drawing to a close, Fenton will continue to occupy the same role in the combined group, whilst COO, Robson Reeves, and Non-Executive Director, Jim Ryan, will also join the board of the US group.
Furthermore, Bally’s CEO, George Papanier will remain primarily responsible for operating the firm’s retail casino business as Senior Executive.
