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Bwin.Party shares continued to climb on news that an activist investor, Jason Ader, was getting ready to hand pick someone new to join that online gambling firm’s board. Shares rose another 3.5% Wednesday following the February 18 news.
“This is major news and it is having a positive impact on the company’s trading performance,” remarked Aaron Goldstein, Business Reporter for the Gambling911.com website.
Ader made a name for himself during a highly publicized proxy battle at slots maker International Game Technology (IGT) last year. He now heads up the activist fund SpringOwl.
“If it is anything like the situation with IGT last year, it’s almost a given that we’ll be seeing a shakeup at Bwin.Party,” Goldstein predicts.
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment’s shares rose 6, or 5.31pc, to 119p on the news Wednesday.
Shares in Bwin.Party are being offloaded by that company’s founders, Ruth DeLeon and Russell DeLeon, who are required to sell their stakes in the company as part of their divorce agreement. SpringOwl gets one seat on the board as per this arrangement.
For SpringOwl, this was the fund’s first deal and, if it’s anything like the long drawn out IGT affair, we may be in for a rocky ride over at Bwin.Party, a company that is already making its mark on the regulated US landscape by taking control of nearly half the legalized Web gambling market in New Jersey.
Mr Ader “feels the company is undervalued and is looking to see it reach its potential”, the spokesman added.
The positive stock performance was enhanced further by Numis Securities Ltd reaffirming their buy rating on Bwin.Party.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
