Sportingbet holders vote to amend convertible notes in buyout offer

By Susanna Moon

Chicago, Feb. 21 - Sportingbet plc bondholders unanimously voted to amend the convertible bonds in the offer by William Hill Australia Pty Ltd. and GVC Holdings plc.

The bondholder meeting was held in London on Feb. 21, and holders cast all 657 votes in favor of the measure, according to a press release.

The votes garnered were more than the three-quarters of votes cast needed to amend the notes, the release noted.

As noted before, holders will receive cash upon the redemption of their convertibles under the revised bond terms, with a revision value of about £5.5 million.

The company said on Feb. 13 that bondholders would now receive a see-through cash value of £141,000, up from £134,146, for each £100,000 principal amount of convertible bonds in the offer related to the merger with William Hill and GVC.

The change was a technical amendment to the terms of the offer to bondholders, according to a previous press release by the companies.

The companies announced on Dec. 20 that they had agreed on the terms of an offer for GVC to acquire the shares of Sportingbet and members of the William Hill Group to acquire the Sportingbet AustralianBusiness and other assets and be granted a call option over the SportingbetSpanish Business, according to another press release.

The offer values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sportingbet on a fully diluted basis, assuming payment in full to Sportingbet convertible holders at their see-through conversion value and exercise of all outstanding in the money options and LTIP awards, at about £485 million.

Under the terms of the offer, Sportingbet convertible holders are entitled to receive in cash the amount that represents the see-through value of the convertibles under their terms as if the Sportingbet convertible holders had exercised their right to convert their bonds into Sportingbet shares at the effective date and received cash payment of 55p per resulting Sportingbet share, the release noted.

Sportingbet is a London-based company that operates licensed betting and gaming sites on the internet.

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