【Hacksaw Gaming】-PointsBet board reaffirms support for MIXI takeover proposal

In a letter to shareholders, PointsBet chair Brett Paton reinforced the board’s confidence in MIXI’s fully funded, all-cash A$353m (€212.8m) offer, despite a rival offer from BlueBet.

The endorsement comes after BlueBet CEO Andrew Menz expressed optimism about ongoing discussions with PointsBet shareholders, following BlueBet’s rival bid to acquire the company.

While PointsBet acknowledges BlueBet’s interest, the board maintains that its proposal presents significant financial and execution risks.

BlueBet’s initial offer, rejected in late February, has not sufficiently addressed key funding concerns.

However, earlier this week, BlueBet said it has secured underwriting support letters for a A$160m equity raise and is well-progressed in securing A$100m in debt funding.

Funding concerns over BlueBet’s offer

Paton highlighted key financial concerns regarding BlueBet’s proposal, noting that the company would need to raise between A$240m and A$260m to implement its plan.

However, PointsBet highlighted that based on publicly available information, as of 31 December 2024 BlueBet had a pro-forma corporate cash balance of under A$15m, and reported negative operating cash flows of A$14m for the previous six months.

Additionally, PointsBet pointed out that BlueBet is assuming it can raise A$100m in debt, despite its financial position.

“To further contextualise BlueBet’s funding challenge,” PointsBet highlighted that as of 1 April, BlueBet’s market capitalisation stood at A$207m, making its proposed A$160m equity capital raise equivalent to 77% of its total market value.

“Given the above, and based on other materials presented to PointsBet, it is clear that the BlueBet proposal could not reasonably be characterised as ‘fully funded,’” Paton said.

PointsBet maintains that BlueBet has not sufficiently addressed these concerns, reinforcing its decision to support the MIXI proposal instead.

Shareholder vote on MIXI deal set for June

Under the terms of the MIXI proposal, each PointsBet shareholder would receive A$1.06 per share in cash.

The board emphasised that this represents a “significant premium” of 27.7% compared to PointsBet’s closing price on 25 February — the day before the acquisition was announced — and a 23.9% premium on the one-month volume-weighted average trading price of PointsBet shares as of the same date.

PointsBet shareholders will vote on the proposed scheme at a meeting in June.