ONLINE gambling company GVC Holdings, led by Scottish accountant Kenny Alexander, has said a bid for bigger rival bwin.party will be partly financed by Canadian firm Amaya.
GVC confirmed its approach for bwin, tabled last week, remained on the table but added that the backing will be jointly provided by the online poker specialist Amaya.
GVC said: "There can be no certainty that the submission of this proposal will lead to the company's proposal being selected as a proposed acquirer of bwin.party or, in turn, completing an acquisition."
888 is also in the running to buy bwin with the deal size expected to be in the region of £1 billion.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the GVC and Amaya partnership will be a serious rival to 888.
Amaya, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has its headquarters in Montreal, Quebec and is the world's largest listed online gambling company.
Mr Alexander started his career at Grant Thornton then joined Sportingbet in 2000 as its finance director for Europe.
Two years later he was promoted to managing director for Europe before joining AIM-listed GVC, which has its headquarters on the Isle of Man, as chief executive in 2007.
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