LONSON-listed 888 Holdings, the online gaming company, has offered to buy bigger rival Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, setting up a potential $1.5 billion takeover battle with GVC Holdings.
A smaller sports betting and gaming company, GVC Holdings confirmed on Friday it had bid for Bwin, which said last November that it was in talks with a number of parties.
"I certainly think it's realistic to think you would get an offer pitched at the 115 (pence per share) level. Possibly higher if you've got multiple bidders," said Canaccord Genuity analyst Simon Davies.
That price would value Bwin at around £950 million ($1.5bn).
Shares in 888, which did not disclose a deal value but indicated it was a cash-and-stock offer, fell 4.3 percent and were among the biggest losers on the London Stock Exchange. Its market capitalisation is around £600 million.
Consolidation in the gambling industry had been anticipated as higher taxes and tougher regulations in Britain and other major European markets have been hurting companies.
Analysts also named Canada's Amaya Gaming as another possible bidder.
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