Betfred bested in Phumelela takeover tussle
Group auditors reject British bookmaker’s £40m rescue package of South African horseracing business
Betfred’s proposed £40m takeover of bankrupt South African horseracing operator Phumelela has fallen through after creditors accepted a rival bid from Mary Oppenheimer Daughters (MOD).
The Warrington-based bookmaker’s offer included a total purchase amount set between £39.3m and £41.5m and would have loaned Phumelela £29.2m to repay 100% of its owed creditors.
Instead, Phumelela’s auditors accepted an inferior £21.6m rescue package from the private investment fund of Mary Oppenheimer-Slack, a member of South Africa’s richest mining family.
Phumelela’s auditors said the offer from Betfred had merely stated its intention to acquire the operator and did not constitute a legally binding proposal.
Under the remit of the offer from MOD, the investment firm will acquire Phumelela’s racetrack and broadcast properties and launch a payment plan worth £24.8m to guarantee 72% of the company’s existing creditors.
MOD is already a registered creditor having offered an olive branch to the languishing operator with a loan of £4.5m at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Betfred declined to comment when contacted by EGR.