PointsBet’s board has firmly rejected the proposal made by Betr, the trading name of BlueBet, setting the stage for MIXI to become the new owner of the Australian betting group.

The decision comes after MIXI made a AU$1.20 per share offer for PointsBet earlier this month, valuing the Melbourne-based enterprise at AUS$402m (€226m), $42m higher than a proposal received from Betr in May.

Betr’s AUS$360m offer was not the only thing considered, however. Upon receiving the offer – which at the time was higher than MIXI’s first proposal of AUS$353m made earlier this year – PointsBet stated that it would carry out due diligence into a potential Betr takeover, though continuing to recommend that its shareholders approve the MIXI bid.

This due diligence has led to PointsBet concluding that a Betr takeover is not a suitable course of action for its business. This is due to the Betr proposal not being a ‘superior proposal’ to the MIXI one, while the firm also concluded that the ‘cost synergies identified by Betr had been materially overstated’.

PointsBet’s evaluation also concluded that “revenue dis-synergies will also reduce the net synergies”, meaning the potential negative outcomes of a merger between the two would outweigh the positives, and that as a result there would be “significant integration and implementation challenges”.

Simply put, the firm believes that MIXI’s takeover offer represents the best value for its shareholders and also the best direction for the company. This firmly shifts the tug of war over PointsBet back in MIXI’s favour, though the firm seems to have had a dominant position throughout.

PointsBet has now entered into a Bid Implementation Deed with Japanese digital technology firm MIXI and its Australian subsidiary, MIXI Australia, and the latter has made an off-market takeover bid for all of PointsBet’s issued share capital.

This deals a blow to BlueBet/Betr, which has been on a mission to disrupt the Australian betting market in recent years, particularly through acquisitions. BlueBet began trading as Betr after a merger with the firm last year, and this year it expanded its geographic reach via the takeover of TopSport in the Northern Territory.

Taking over PointsBet, one of the biggest challenger brands to Australia’s market domineers Tabcorp, Ladbrokes, Neds and Sportsbet, would have been a huge boost to BlueBet/Betr – although it can be expected that the firm is already looking at other avenues for growth.

Meanwhile, MIXI is now another step closer to finding itself competing in the Australian betting market via a new asset. This could prove to be a tricky task in its own right, however, with the market – as noted above – being highly competitive, and one which even well-experienced and big budget international players like the UK’s William Hill have struggled to crack.

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