Breakingviews – Capital Calls: Entain may have more hands to play in Aussie M&A

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Concise insights on global finance.

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UPPING THE ANTE. The stakes in Ladbrokes owner Entain’s (ENT.L) Australian flutter could go higher. The UK bookie on Tuesday raised its offer for Tabcorp’s (TAH.AX) wagering and media business to A$3.5 billion ($2.7 billion), up from A$3 billion. That’s despite renewed coronavirus lockdowns weighing on the business. Still, the current price is not too high, especially for a business that can still benefit from growth in online betting, and Entain’s proprietary technology. Assume the unit would still represent 41% of Tabcorp’s EBITDA of A$1.2 billion next year, as estimated by Refinitiv. That implies a valuation of just over 7 times 2022 EBITDA, cheap for a sector which trades on around 14 times.

There may be added benefits for the UK group. In January it fended off a takeover offer from MGM Resorts (MGM.N) read more . Since then it has bought Sweden-based Enlabs and Portuguese Bet.pt, both of which are sports betting firms. Greater scale and complexity could help new Chief Executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen avoid a U.S. casino wedding. (By Dasha Afanasieva)

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Earlier in Capital Calls:

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Japanese economy drives into political mud read more

The dash for deposits read more

Betway to go read more

EU’s vaccine feud is more political than financial read more

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| Editing by Neil Unmack and Oliver Taslic

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