Rank Group PLC (LON:RNK), the owner of Mecca Bingo, has confirmed an around £115mln recommended takeover offer for AIM-listed online gaming operator Stride Gaming PLC (LON:STR).
After intially only revealing that discussions were taking place, the FTSE 250-listed company swiftly said in a second statement that Stride had agreed to the all-cash offer which values its ordinary shares at 151p each, around a 29% premium to Thursday's closing price.
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Rank added that, in aggregate, it has received irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the offer in respect of a total of 46,114,665 Stride Shares, representing approximately 61% of Stride's ordinary share capital.
Commenting on the deal, John O'Reilly, Rank’s chief executive officer said: “We have long been impressed with the quality of the Stride management, technology and operations, which, we believe, offer significant opportunities to create value when combined with the Rank brands, customer-base and infrastructure.
“The joining of our businesses will accelerate delivery of Rank's Transformation Plan and create one of the UK's leading online gaming businesses."
Stride Gaming’s chairman, Nigel Payne added: “After extensive discussions, the Board concluded that a combination with Rank has significant strategic logic and its offer of 151p per share represents fair value for Stride shareholders in the current environment.”
In response, Stride Gaming shares shot 24.7% higher to 146.50p, while Rank shares ticked up 0.8% to 147p.
-- Updates to add confirmed offer --