Offer For Boss Media Increased
Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Online-Casinos.com
OFFER FOR BOSS MEDIA INCREASED
Directors recommend that GEMed offer be accepted
The chairman of Boss Media, Meg Tiveus has announced that a revised offer for the online gambling turnkey provider by GEMed has been recommended unanimously by the board of directors. The offer has been increased by 32 percent from February 1st's SEK 19 a share to SEK 25 a share, valuing the company at SEK 1.4 billion or Euro 149 million.
The previous offer was felt by the Boss directors to undervalue the company, and there were reports that other bids were being considered (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports)
The revised offer represents a bid premium of 72 percent compared to the average closing price of SEK 14.57 of the Boss Media share on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm during the last 10 trading days prior to the announcement of the offer, or 87 percent on a cash and debt free basis.
GEMed AB, is a company jointly owned by GTECH (87.5 percent) and Medströms (12.5 percent). Between them, GTECH and Medströms own 28.6 percent of the share capital and votes in Boss Media
Announcing the revised offer, Tiveus said: "A combination between Boss Media and GTECH is industrially sound. We think the prerequisites for GTECH and Boss Media to create a competitive supplier alternative in an expansive industry are favorable.
"The revised cash offer presented by GEMed, as a consequence of the process conducted, means that Boss Media's shareholders receive a substantially higher price for their shares compared to the share price prior to the initiation of the process."
GTECH CEO Jaymin B. Patel said: "We are pleased that our revised competitive offer has received the unanimous endorsement of the Board of Boss Media. We now look forward to be working together with Boss Media in the acceleration of its international growth strategy."
The announcement included a note that GTECH has just acquired approximately 8.8 million shares in Boss Media, and together with previously acquired shares, the company currently owns approximately 9.2 million shares in Boss Media, corresponding to approximately 16.0 percent of the share capital and votes. • Medströms currently owns approximately 7.2 million shares in Boss Media, corresponding to approximately 12.5 percent of the share capital and votes.
Boss shareholders representing 3.6 percent of the share capital and votes, have irrevocably undertaken to tender their shares to GEMed in the offer. Consequently, and provided that the offer is completed, GTECH, Medströms and GEMed today controls approximately 32.1 percent of the share capital and votes in Boss Media.
