Brunson And The World Poker Tour - What Happened?
Published: Friday, July 15, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
BRUNSON AND THE WORLD POKER TOUR - WHAT HAPPENED?
US$700 million bid sends stock northwards...then south again.
Surprise news of the week came from Reuters, reporting that U.S. poker champion
Doyle Brunson had bid $700 million cash for WPT Enterprises Inc. just days after
the company known for its World Poker Tour television show launched an online
gaming site.
Market rumors of the bid, which were later confirmed by WPT, sent its shares surging
almost 59 percent last Friday to a new high of $28.20 on Nasdaq.
The bid offered a 100 percent premium over the Thursday closing price of $17.75
which valued WPT at about $357 million.
"This bid was unsolicited," Chief Financial Officer Todd Steele told
Reuters. "We are going through the normal evaluation process for anything
of this nature, and that will likely result in bringing it before the board."
WPT spokeswoman Jackie Lapin said the bid was made by Brunson with a team of unidentified
financial backers. Later reports from CNBC suggested that the Binion (Vegas land
casino operator) family was among those involved with Doyle Brunson.
Brunson, 71, a legendary U.S. professional poker players, was not immediately
available for comment. He was otherwise occupied in Las Vegas playing in the World
Series of Poker.
Analysts said the offer may seem high on the surface but was not necessarily so
when looking at WPT's business model.
And that's when the wheels started coming off the offer, which had an expiry date
of Tuesday this week. WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb couldn't seem to get the information
he needed for serious consideration of the offer from Brunson, and as the week
wore on it was clear that frustration was setting in.
The shine had disappeared, and media reports were suggesting that WPT Enterprises
Inc's shares had turned southward because the Brunson bid had crumpled, prompting
speculation about the offer's veracity.
"At this point, without any further information, we would let it expire,"
said WPT's Chief Executive Steve Lipscomb. "When the offer arrived last Thursday
we were not looking to sell the World Poker Tour and we are more than happy to
just get back to business."
A company spokeswoman said WPT, which owns the popular World Poker Tour television
series, spoke to Brunson late Monday who indicated he would provide no further
information about the vague, cash offer that was received last Thursday. And on
Tuesday the offer was allowed to lapse.
