Any ideas why BPTY has opened some 35% up. Not complaining as I took the plunge a couple of days. Presumably there has been some press comment somewhere?

StockMarketWire.com
Following media speculation regarding a possible bid the Board of bwin.party digital entertainment has confirmed that it has entered into preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties.

They comprise a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders.

The company says that all such discussions remain at a preliminary stage.

Amery @ 145p.

Bwin.Party In Negotiations With AMAYA and Playtech
AMAYA and Playtech look to acquire bwin.party as negotiations begin between the companies.

http://www.pokerwinners.com/news/industry/bwin-party-in-negotiations-with-amaya-and-playtech

MARKET REPORT (Daily Mail): Odds may be shortening on bid for gambling group Bwin.Party but share price tells a different story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2850709/MARKET-REPORT-Odds-shortening-imminent-agreed-bid-online-gambling-group-Bwin-Party-share-price-telling-different-story.html

Pre-close trading update
Key points
Ø Bet volumes and active player numbers as expected but exceptionally weak gross win
margin in sports betting, particularly in December, has impacted overall revenue
performance in the fourth quarter

Ø Total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range €608m to €612m

Ø On-track to deliver the €30m of cost savings targeted in 2014

Ø Continuing Clean EBITDA[1] margin for 2014 is expected to be between 16% and 17%
including Clean EBITDA losses of approximately €10m from New Jersey and €7m from
social gaming

Ø Discussions with third parties regarding industry consolidation are continuing and
further announcements will be made as and when appropriate

Trading update
In the period since 30 September 2014, trading has been broadly in-line with expectations except for an exceptionally weak gross margin in sports betting with the leading teams in several European leagues enjoying a strong run to the cost of European-facing sports books.

As a result, total revenue for 2014 is now expected to be in the range of €608m to €612m and the Clean EBITDA margin between 16% and 17%.

Discussions with third parties
Further to the announcement made on 12 November 2014, the Group is continuing its discussions with several parties regarding a variety of potential business combinations with a view to creating additional value for bwin.party shareholders. As previously announced, there can be no certainty as to whether or not such discussions will result in an offer being made for the Company. Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate.

Social gaming
We are in active discussions regarding the sale of Win, the Group's social gaming business and expect to make a further announcement shortly.

Full Year Results
The full year results for the year ending 31 December 2014 will be announced on 10 March 2015.

DID FAILED ACQUISITION TALKS DRAG BWIN.PARTY SHARES DOWN?




14th February, 2015 :: 12:29:33

Source: Casinos Online

Share price plummeted 25 percent on Friday.

Bwin.Party shareholders received an unpleasant surprise Friday as the share price plunged 25 percent on the London Exchange following unconfirmed reports that negotiations on a possible acquisition of the FTSE 250 gambling group with an unnamed suitor had failed.

The dramatic drop saw share prices dive to almost GBP 78, although there was some recovery later & the price at close of business was GBP 83.55.

Rumours of an acquisition bid on Bwin.Party, which has been struggling in recent times, have been circulating since late last year, with little concrete & confirmed information surfacing.

Faced with the serious decline in its share price, a Bwin spokesman effectively denied that any negotiations had failed, instead pointing out that stock exchange regulations required the company to issue an announcement if such an event occurred, & thus far no such statement had been made.

Nevertheless, the rumours continued to persist, backed by speculative reports in several publications that acquisition talks had ground to a halt, triggering a sell-off & the consequent drop in share price.

Mystery continues to surround the identity of the would-be suitor with whom Bwin.Party was reportedly talking; most of the speculation pointed to the disparately focused Amaya Gaming & Playtech groups, & even William Hill plc, although the latter is presumably focused at present on its admitted negotiations with 888 Holdings (see previous reports).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11413038/Lord-Green-quits-amid-HSBC-row.html

Lord Green quits amid HSBC row
Lord Green steps down as TheCityUK chairman following allegations over his involvement in illicit Swiss banking at HSBC

Lord Green, the former HSBC chairman, has stepped down from his role as the head of the UK’s national body for financial services, TheCityUK.
He is currently at the centre of a row over HSBC's involvement in illicit Swiss banking a decade ago.
Lord Green was HSBC chairman and chief executive from 2003 to 2010.
A leaked report on Monday revealed that HSBC's Swiss arm had helped 8,844 wealthy Britons avoid millions of pounds in tax.
The allegations of historic tax avoidance at the bank relate to files leaked by whistleblower dating from 2005 to 2007.
13 Feb 2015
Lord Green is stepping down as chairman of TheCityUK's Advisory Council with immediate effect.
His place is being taken by Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of the TheCityUK's Board, whose term is about to conclude.
Lord Green's resignation was announced following rumours that theCity's elite was distancing itself from the former financier.
Sir Gerry said, “Stephen Green is a man of great personal integrity who has given huge service to his country and the City.
"He doesn't want to damage the effectiveness of TheCityUK in promoting good governance and doing the right thing so has decided to step aside from chairing our Advisory Council. This is entirely his own decision."

-=-=-=-=-=-

Wonder, if his friend Dodgy Dave will dump him. Mind with Dave's record he would feel safer without is help.

What ?

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues fell to €611.9m in the year to the end of December - down from €652.4m).

The group said this reflected the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece and further declines in poker, partially mitigated by the FIFA World Cup. Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56% of total revenue (2013: 53%).

Clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritsation fell to €101.2m from €108.0m. It said this was primarily due to lower revenues and increased start-up losses in the US.

The recommended full year dividend up 5% to 1.89 pence per share (2013: 1.80 pence) making a total FY14 dividend of 3.78 pence per share (2013: 3.60 pence).

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "We have made solid progress this year in growing our share of revenues from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, increasing our mobile footprint and reducing our cost base. However, the full year impact of ISP blocking in Greece coupled with the structural decline of regulated poker markets in Continental Europe affected our overall financial performance for the year. "Having announced our shift to a label-led approach in August, we are now accelerating our transformation. This programme is already improving our operational effectiveness and customer focus, both of which are key drivers of our long-term financial performance, with particular opportunities flowing from the commercialisation of our technology through our new Studios business unit."

Canaccord note today:
"bwin.party delivered results in line with reduced guidance of December 30th, but flagged disappointingly weak trading into its Q1. However, it confirmed that it has received indicative proposals around potential "business combinations". Revenues fell by 6% to €611.9m (vs guidance €608m to €612m). Ebitda fell 6% to €101.2m (vs guidance €97.3m to €104.0m), with a margin 16.5%, flat YoY. Adjusted EPS fell to 5.9c, which looked light. And net cash (after stripping out customer cash) was also below our expectations, at €34.6m, vs our €41.6m, reflecting higher cash exceptionals and higher acquisition spend. However, the dividend was raised by 5% to 3.78p, providing strong yield support. There were a number of key drivers behind the weak performance, ranging from the forced withdrawal from Greece, accelerating declines in Poker and weak Q4 sports margin. Sports revenues were up only 1%, despite the World Cup boost; Casino was down by 6%, Poker by 29% and Bingo declined 2%.
Looking out to FY15, there will be a number of significant factors driving performance. On the plus side, there are €15m of incremental cost savings coming through (and an expectation that these will be exceeded). But on the negative, there is the impact of German VAT (c.€15) and UK Point of consumption tax (c.€9m). But the key focus this morning will be the acceleration in the rate of decline in revenues in the first 8 weeks of Q1, with total group revenues down by 12%, against the -9% run rate in Q4. Betting volumes were up by a high single digit amount, but a continued weak sports margin meant that Sports revenues were -6%, while Casino was down by 14% (a deterioration from Q4) and Poker by 30%. Management describes this as "broadly in line", but it is weaker than we expected. Given the extent of cost cutting, and product launches, BPTY remains "confident about the full year outlook". However, we are cutting our FY15 Ebitda forecast from €101.3m to €98.7m (consensus c.€103m), driving EPS down by c.12% to c.6.1c. But while current trading disappointed, the yield should provide some support - we assume modest DPS growth in FY15. And management has confirmed that it has received "indicative proposals regarding a variety of possible business combinations" - suggesting progress from the previously disclosed "discussions".
On our revised forecasts, BPTY is trading on a 9.3x FY15 EV/Ebitda and 18.2x PER. That represents a modest discount to the peer group, despite confirmation of ongoing bid/break-up discussions. Clearly, progress with the latter will be key to performance, and while BPTY has consistently under-performed, it has some attractive assets (sports engine, payments business etc). In addition, the dividend yield should provide support (at 4.9% for FY15), albeit it does not look sustainable, given negligible cover.
We reduce our TP from 100p to 92p to reflect the downgrades and stick at HOLD."

thanks harrycat, look forward to the injection ofcash,or full blown take over.
owl directors on board, they are not sitting just for the job.

New Jersey Licence
The Board of bwin.party is pleased to announce that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ('DGE') has awarded each of the Group's wholly-owned subsidiaries, bwin.party entertainment (NJ) LLC and bwin.party (USA) Inc., a Casino Service Industry Enterprise Licence under section 92(a) of the New Jersey Control Act.

as previouse note , I said poker stars may be more interested in b win now awarded
license, in new jersey u s a

GVC Holdings PLC (AIM:GVC), a leading online sports betting and gaming group, notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it has submitted a proposal with a view to the Group acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of bwin.party digital entertainment plc ("bwin.party").

If the proposed transaction were to complete, it would be treated as a reverse takeover due to the size of bwin.party relative to the Company and, in order for the proposed transaction to proceed, it would require, inter alia, the approval of GVC shareholders.

There can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the Company being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition. Further updates will be provided in due course.

StockMarketWire.com
Online gaming group has confirmed it has made a takeover approach for bwin.party digital entertainment.

The company said the board had noted press speculation concerning a possible offer and said it believes that there is significant industrial logic in a combination of 888 and bwin.party.

Due to the size of the proposed transaction, it would require the approval of 888 shareholders. 888 shareholders representing approximately 59% of 888's share capital have irrevocably committed, subject to customary conditions, to vote in favour of the proposed transaction.

888 stresses there can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the company being selected as the proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing a transaction. A further update will be provided in due course.

Canaccord note:
"After months of speculation, the buyers are finally queuing up. GVC confirmed on Friday that it has proposed a reverse takeover of bwin.party and 888 has now confirmed that it has proposed an offer comprising cash and shares. BPTY is now in play, and while the trading backdrop remains challenging, there now appears to be a high probability of a contested take-over bid.
The GVC offer has merit. GVC has done an excellent job absorbing the unregulated businesses from Sportingbet, as part of a joint bid with William Hill. GVC shares are up by 250% since it announced the Sportingbet approach in 2012, through a combination of an extremely low price paid and strong execution. BPTY would be a braver move. GVC would be taking over a business 3 times bigger (BPTY’s £830m MV compares with GVC at £221m), and it would be issuing a lot of shares for a business on a much higher valuation (FY16F 10.8x EV/Ebitda, against GVC on 7.2x, and it would have to offer and premium). But we estimate that if the deal was at a 30% premium to Thursday’s close
(i.e. 116p), included 25% in cash (i.e. £190m of debt, or 1.5x pro forma combined FY16 Ebitda), it took out €15m of costs in FY16 (or 10% of GVC’s FY15 cost base) and it was able to sell the Kalixa payments business for €100m, then the combined entity would be on a FY16 EV/Ebitda of 8.5x; it would have high exposure to unregulated markets, but with the promise of tighter cost management and further synergies to drive growth, it would look relatively attractive versus the peer group. And there could be other noncore asset disposals to further reduce the cost. 888, by comparison, would have the advantages of greater scale (£594m MV), a higher rating (at 12.1x EV/Ebitda it is broadly in line with BPTY), and the ability to raise more debt (comfortably over £300m, given existing net cash of $87m). The shareholder structure (two families control 54%) might have been a stumbling block, but they appear to have backed the approach (59% of 888′s shareholders have backed the deal). This appears to put 888 in the driving seat. Impact on the Canaccord Genuity view.
bwin.party will produce a trading update on Thursday, and we expect it to be weak (we see a likely deterioration from the -12% revenue run rate in the first two months), with further downward pressure on our forecasts. However, William Hill’s bid approach for 888 highlighted the attractions of a strong Online Gaming technology platform in a consolidating market, and BPTY offers strong sportsbook, Casino and poker platforms. The GVC and 888 approaches should underpin the share price in the short term and we see potential speculation over other additional interested parties.
Valuation After the rally on Friday, BPTY is on a 2015F PER of 22.6x and EV/Ebitda of 11.5x. This looks relatively expensive given the trading backdrop, but the existence of multiple bidders suggests a materially increased probability of a take-out premium. We raise our TP from 92p to 115p (a 30% premium to Thursday’s close, but a realistic target for any bidder) and move from Hold to BUY, given the rising probability of an attractive take-out offer."

StockMarketWire.com
GVC Holdings has confirmed that its proposal for bwin.party digital entertainment would be jointly financed with Amaya, Inc.

Amaya is the Toronto Stock Exchange listed owner of gaming and related consumer businesses, with brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour and at the close of business on 15 May had a market value of approximately C$4.31bn.

GVC stresses that there can be no certainty that the submission of its proposal will lead to it being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition.

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's total revenues in the first quarter were 6% up on the previous three months but down 6% year-on-year at €155.3m (2014: €165.7m).

Nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 62% of total revenue (2014: 56%); mobile/touch represented 30% of gross gaming revenue (2014: 17%).

The group says cost savings of €15m per annum are on-track for 2015 following completion of its technology integration, the sale of non-core businesses and more efficient, product-led marketing spend.

And it says the non-core asset disposal programme on-course to generate proceeds of between €30m and €50m2 in 2015, in-line with previous guidance.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "The group has delivered solid growth since Q4 2014 on the back of continued mobile expansion. However, a lower than expected gross win margin in sports betting as experienced by other gaming operators and continued challenges in poker held back our year-on-year revenue performance during the first three months of 2015.

"Despite slightly lower revenue and additional taxes, continued careful management of our costs and further operational efficiencies have meant that Group Clean EBITDA margins for the first quarter are ahead of the Board's expectations and also ahead of last year.

"In the United States, draft legislation is being considered in both California and Pennsylvania. On the back of the strength of our US platform and existing partnerships (that now includes a market access partner in Pennsylvania), we believe that we are well-placed to secure a leading position in each of these markets should a suitable regulatory and fiscal framework be introduced. "We are making good progress in respect of our non-core asset disposals and remain on track to meet the €30-€50m target2 for sale proceeds this year." "In the period since the end of March, net gaming revenues are up 6% year-on-year, driven by sports betting that is up 25% year-on-year. Given our expanding mobile footprint, increased focus on the core business and the associated programme of operational efficiencies, we remain on-track for the full year."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment has sold its interests in World Poker Tour to Ourgame International Holdings on a debt free/cash-free basis for US$35m, payable in cash.

Ourgame is a fast-growing Hong Kong-listed social gaming company with interests across Asia and a market capitalisation of approximately HK$5.7 billion (US$733m).

Under the terms of the transaction, bwin.party will continue to sponsor various WPT events and television shows in both the United States and Europe until 31 December 2016.

In addition, bwin.party also has a right of first refusal over such additional sponsorship opportunities that may become available until 31 December 2016. Having been acquired in September 2009 for US$12.3m, in the year to 31 December 2014, World Poker Tour reported total revenue of $10.4m and a loss at the Clean EBITDA level of $4.1m.

Chief financial officer Martin Weigold said: "Over the past six years we have built WPT into a global franchise, with tournaments and TV deals in many countries including Asia where poker remains a popular and growing sport. However, consistent with our strategy of divesting our non-core assets, we believe that now is the right time to release that value for shareholders so that we can focus our efforts on our core real money gaming and technology business."

StockMarketWire.com
bwin.party digital entertainment's gaming revenue in the three months to 30 June was in-line with its expectations and the board remains confident in the full year outlook.

The group says sports turnover was ahead of plan although sports gross win margins were below normalised levels.

Mobile/touch has continued to grow strongly: in June 2015 mobile/touch represented (31%) of total gross gaming revenue (June 2014: 23%) with sports betting at over 50% (June 2014: 37%). The group says non-core asset disposals have already realised over €36m, in-line with its target of €30m to €50m.

Chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said: "Despite challenging comparatives together with the impact of EU VAT and POC tax, we are pleased with our business performance in the first half. We have completed our new organisational set-up and streamlined our decision-making processes, significantly improving our operational performance.

"Sports volumes are ahead of last year despite the 2014 World Cup, although poor sporting results drove gross win margins lower, holding back revenue performance in the period. Casino betting volumes have also remained strong and in poker we are closing the gap on last year. Our bingo revenue was in-line with last year but our UK business now attracts the POC tax that was introduced in December 2014.

"We have made good progress on the disposal of our non-core assets with World Poker Tour, Winners2 and United Games all sold during the second quarter and we have already reached our target range of €30m to €50m of disposal proceeds. As well as generating cash, these disposals are also helping us to reduce the complexity within our business.

"Our shift to a label-led structure is delivering the operational efficiencies we anticipated and we are on course to generate cost savings of at least €15m this year.

"We remain confident about the prospects for the second half and the outlook for our business."