Entain triggers one-month extension to seal Enlabs takeover

Entain has extended the acceptance period deadline for its £250m acquisition of Enlabs by one month to 18 March 2021.

The original acceptance period was due to expire on 18 February after the FTSE 100 operator made a public cash offer for Enlabs in January which valued the Baltics-based company at SEK40 per share.

That offer was conditional on regulatory and governmental approval from competition authorities and gambling regulators, as well as the conditional acceptance of 90% of Enlabs shareholders.

Entain has filed the applications to obtain these necessary approvals but did not expect to receive clearance from all relevant parties by the 18 February cut-off date.

The deal is now expected to be settled on or around 30 March.

The takeover, engineered to bolster Entain’s presence in the Baltics, has been far from straightforward, despite being unanimously recommended by Enlabs’ independent bid committee.

A group of Enlabs shareholders holding a combined 10.7% of stock signed a letter of intent to reject the initial proposal after insisting it undervalued the business and its growth prospects.

During Entain’s Q4 results presentation, CFO Rob Wood was asked if he was concerned about the revolt and whether Entain would consider reducing the 90% threshold.

“Not at this stage,” said Wood. “We were very clear that we offered a full price of 12 x EBITDA and we think that’s a fair valuation.”