Rank Group, has taken another step closer in their move to completing the acquisition of the online casino and bingo operator, Stride Gaming after a court has sanctioned the agreement.
May saw the operator of Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino, Rank, make an offer of £115.3m (€129.5m/$141.7m) to purchase Strides entires fully diluted share capital.
Stride shareholders have overwhelmingly voted back the deal in July, while the GB Gambling Commission also gave the green light for the acquisition last month.
Rank have also required approval from the court in order to proceed with the deal, and while the court has sanctioned the agreement, it is expected that Stride shares will stop trading on AIM by 6pm today.
Dealings in Stride shares will suspended at 7:30am on October 4, with Stride also making an application to AIM, on the cancellation of the admission trading the Stride Shares on AIM, effecting from 7am on October 7.
Upon originally tabling the offer, Rank have now said that the merger would create a business with genuine scale and capability in the digital market, with pro forma digital net gaming revenues approximately £185m.
Rank have also come to say that the acquisition would help its performance and reduce costs through migration to Stride’s proprietary technology platform and in-house ecosystem.
In addition, Rank then said that the merger would create significant value from storm synergies while also offering greater flexibility to the combined business and through also bolstering its management team with the addition of senior Stride staff.
In August, Rank reported a 22 per cent year-on-year decline in operating profit in its annual figures, despite digital growth driving an improved performance in the six months to June 30, 2019.
Operating profit fell to £39.0m from £50.1m, while like-for-like revenue fell from £731.3m to £729.5m, although statutory turnover edged up from £691.0m to £695.1m.
