Three suitors for parlay

16.02.2008

When Sportingbet founder Mark Blandford's PEIC Acquisition group made a Cdn $ 12.3 million offer for Ontario-based gambling software developer Parlay Entertainment earlier this year, it seems to have triggered rival interest in the company. This week Parlay announced that it has now received two other expressions of interest from parties interested in conducting due diligence which could result in a possible purchase of all of the issued and outstanding shares of the company.

PEIC's window of opportunity was open until January 30, with Parlay agreeing not to consider rival offers until that date, but it now appears that the bidding is open for the Canadian-based developer of online bingo software founded by Perry Malone and Scott White.

Parlay Entertainment are not divulging who is behind the new offers other than to say these are ‘superior’ to the PEIC bid. Under the latest offer, the buyer would pay between $1 and $1.20 cash for each share. The offer by PEIC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barbados-based Letton Investments Ltd., is for 95 cents in cash per share.

In its latest press release, Parlay has announced that its data room, which was established at the offices of its solicitors and which is now available on a virtual basis, will remain accessible to parties interested in conducting due diligence over the next two weeks.

The company has commenced negotiations with these parties and will entertain binding offers to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company by the end of February 2008.

"There can be no assurance that any agreement will be entered into as a result of the negotiations around any expression of interest received by the Company, nor can there be any assurance that any proposed transaction will be completed or approved by the shareholders of Parlay," a company spokesman said.