PointsBet Directors Reject Betr Deal, Reiterate Support for MIXI Proposal

PointsBet’s leadership has once again rejected Betr’s attempt to acquire the company. The former sportsbook asserted that the MIXI takeover offer represents a better deal and advised its shareholders to approve it.

Betr’s Deal Did Not Appeal to PointsBet’s Board

In its latest announcement, PointsBet said that Betr’s latest all-scrip takeover offer, which proposes 3.81 Betr shares for each PointsBet share its “materially inferior” to the MIXI takeover offer. For context, MIXI has adopted the exact opposite approach of Betr, putting forward an all-cash offer that would see it pay AUD 1.20 per PointsBet share.

PointsBet’s leadership considered an earlier Betr offer but has mostly favored MIXI since the latter company updated its proposal. At the same time, PointsBet has been largely unsatisfied with Betr’s latest proposals, which the former company argued do not offer the same material certainty.

While Betr successfully leveraged its stake in PointsBet to block an earlier MIXI offer from going through, the Japanese tech company returned with an off-market proposal that will require fewer votes to pass. In addition to that, MIXI’s local arm, MIXI Australia has since acquired a 9.15% stake in PointsBet, allowing it to also participate in the vote.

The Sports Betting Operator Listed Its Reasons for Rejecting Betr

In its rejection, PointsBet clarified that its leadership has determined that the value of the unsolicited Betr scrip offer was worth materially less than the MIXI takeover offer. PointsBet added that its board does not accept Betr’s characterization of the value of its offer.

PointsBet added that the unsolicited Betr scrip offer is “highly conditional and subject to Betr shareholder approval and Ontario gaming approvals,” adding a further layer of uncertainty. At the same time, the PointsBet board said that the deal’s value will change over time and the cash value realizable by PointsBet shareholders is uncertain too.

At the same time, the all-scrip offer will inevitably expose PointsBet shareholders to Betr’s business. The former company listed a few reasons as to why this is not necessarily a good thing, including Betr’s volatile VIP-heavy customer base, “unattractive product mix,” and high levels of customer churn.

PointsBet further insisted that the significant value in synergies claimed by Betr is “materially overstated,” despite the latter company’s insistence that this was untrue. PointsBet highlighted high level of customer cross-over, arguing that this would significantly affect the purported synergies.

Directors Encouraged Shareholders to Accept the MIXI Deal

In the meantime, the PointsBet leadership told shareholders that the MIXI takeover offer is now open for acceptance. The board of directors unanimously urged existing PointsBet shareholders to accept the MIXI takeover offer, arguing that it represented a superior proposal.