Leading law firm DQ Advocates has played a leading role in a giant takeover deal in the world of eGaming.
The company was sole Isle of Man legal adviser to island company GVC Holdings in its successful bid for and acquisition of bwin.party Digital Entertainment.
DQ also advised on the subsequent listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange effective on Tuesday this week.
GVC’s takeover of BWIN is one of the largest eGaming/e-business acquisitions of 2015/2016 with a deal value of around £1.2 billion.
The boards of GVC and BWIN reached agreement on the terms of a recommended offer on September 4, 2015, following months of heavily publicised and protracted bidding wars between several eGaming giants.
The acquisition was agreed by a Gibraltar Court on January 29 via a scheme of arrangement as BWIN is a Gibraltar incorporated company.
The scheme will see GVC acquire the entire issued and to-be issued ordinary share capital of BWIN.
Trading in BWIN’s shares on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market was suspended on January 28.
Admission of the GVC shares to the main market took place at 8am on Tuesday.
Both parties believe that the merging of their products and customer base will allow them to pursue further growth in the eGaming and sports betting industries and cut operational costs by up to 125 million euros by the end of 2017.
GVC’s chief executive officer Kenneth Alexander said that GVC is a ‘natural partner for bwin.party considering our strong sports betting and online gaming pedigree.’
This can be attributed to GVC’s experience of successfully acquiring and restructuring eGaming businesses, the most notable being Sportingbet in 2013, a deal in which DQ also acted as the sole Isle of Man legal adviser to GVC.
DQ advised GVC on all Isle of Man aspects of the takeover, including the Cerberus finance facility, GVC’s de-listing from AIM and the admission of GVC shares to the main market. The lead UK lawyers for GVC were Addleshaw Goddard. Other parties’ UK advisers included Simmons & Simmons and Norton Rose.
Leading the team at DQ was head of corporate & commercial Mark Dougherty assisted by Jessica McManus and Kirsten Middleton.
Director Mark Dougherty said: ‘This £1.2bn transaction shows yet again that the Isle of Man is the eGaming jurisdiction of choice, not just for licensed operators but also for their listed holding companies.
‘The takeover of BWIN and the admission of GVC’s shares to the main market on February 2 are the successful conclusion of a long but exciting process for GVC, DQ and other advisors.
‘DQ wishes Kenneth Alexander, Richard Cooper and their entire team at GVC great success for the future. DQ has been delighted to share this journey with GVC.’
GVC is headquartered in the Isle of Man and has licences in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Denmark, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) Spain, Malta, Denmark, UK, South Africa, and the Dutch Caribbean. GVC’s ‘core brands’ are CasinoClub, Betboo, Sportingbet, bwin, partypoker, partycasino and FoxyBingo.