(Adds analyst, company comments; share movement, background)
By Mamidipudi Soumithri
July 21 (Reuters) - Online gambling firm GVC Holdings Plc
GVC.L could make another attempt to buy peer Bwin.party
Digital Entertainment BPTY.L , just days after Bwin accepted a
900 million pound ($1.4 billion)offer from 888 Holdings Plc
888.L .
GVC said on Tuesday it was considering its options regarding
Bwin, but there was no certainty it would make a new
offer. ID:nRSU5750Ta
It made a 110 pence per share offer for Bwin earlier in July
along with Canada's Amaya Inc AYA.TO .
Bwin, which has been at the centre of a bidding war between
GVC and 888, accepted a 104.09 pence a share bid on Friday from
online casino and poker firm 888 after months of talks with the
two sides. ID:nL4N0ZX23Y ID:nL3N0ZP2QD
Bwin said at the time that GVC's proposal had additional
execution risks and the premium it offered was not enough for
Bwin's board to recommend it.
Michael Campbell, analyst at Northland Capital Partners,
said GVC was likely to come back with a larger offer, but added
that it would have to be a minimum of 115-120 pence per share.
"For GVC to win that business, they're really going to have
to come back with a quite a bit of a competitive bid, in my own
view, and if it's south of 115, 120 I can't see shareholders
voting in favour of a GVC deal," he said.
The online gaming industry has seen a flurry of M&A activity
as firms expand in order to offset the impact of increasing
taxes and tighter regulation.
GVC's joint bid for Bwin, a company more than triple its
size, would have involved breaking up the firm into units that
could then be separately absorbed by GVC and Amaya.
The Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday that GVC could
consider making another approach for Bwin, this time on its own,
to remove many of those concerns. [http://bit.ly/1I8Nn8i
]
Campbell said he would be surprised if GVC could land the
deal without the backing of a company such as Amaya.
A GVC spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday about the
possibility of making a solo bid for Bwin, but added it was not
ruling in or out any options.
888 and Bwin were not available for comment, while Amaya was
unavailable to comment outside of normal business hours.
GVC shares were up 2.7 percent on the London Stock Exchange
on Tuesday morning. Shares in Bwin were flat, while 888's shares
were marginally down.
($1 = 0.6422 pounds)
(Editing by Anupama Dwivedi and Mark Potter)