PointsBet has “unanimously” recommended shareholders accept a takeover offer from Mixi, insisting core issues with another offer from BlueBet “have not been adequately addressed.”
Mixi’s offer involves AU$352m to acquire all of the shares in PointsBet via a scheme of arrangement. PointsBet subsequently entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with Mixi and Mixi Australia for the offer.
BlueBet’s offer, meanwhile, is a “mix-and-match” proposal involving either cash or scrip, or a combination of both.
Despite BlueBet’s attempts to convince PointsBet of the superiority of its offer, PointsBet has again reiterated concerns over claims the proposal is “fully funded.”
PointsBet noted BlueBet needed to raise a cash pool of between $240m and $260m to implement its proposal, but PointsBet said the company had a pro-forma corporate cash balance of under $15m on December 31, 2024, and negative operating cash flows of $14m in the six months to the same date.
“Despite BlueBet’s negative operating cash flows, the BlueBet proposal also assumes that the company can raise $100m in debt,” PointsBet said.
“To further contextualise BlueBet’s funding challenge, as at April 1, 2025, the market capitalisation of BlueBet was $207m – the $160m of equity capital that BlueBet stated it needs to raise in connection with the BlueBet Proposal represents 77 per cent of this amount.
“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.’”
PointsBet said BlueBet has not adequately addressed these concerns and the company is now angling towards Mixi’s offer instead.
PointsBet said that if the scheme proposed by Mixi’s offer is implemented, each shareholder will receive a cash amount of $1.06 per PointsBet share, which it said is a “significant premium” of 27.7 per cent to PointsBet’s closing price on February 25, 2025 – the day before the announcement of the proposed transaction – and of 23.9 per cent to the one-month volume weighted average trading price of PointsBet shares as of the same day.
PointsBet shareholders will vote on the scheme at a shareholder meeting in June 2025. PointsBet hopes that the scheme can be implemented in the same month.
Mixi is a Japanese company that, alongside its Digital Entertainment segment offering mobile gaming and its Lifestyle segment, has made sports betting and spectator sports a “focus area” and has been “striving to expand this sector.”
Indeed, Mixi already offers social sports betting through Tipstar, which offers online betting tickets for keirin in cycling and motorcycle racing.
The company said it is primarily focusing on Australia, “where the betting market is sizable and some states even have a public holiday for horseracing.”
Mixi has a Northern Territory-licenced sports bookmaking subsidiary that provides wagering services to Australian consumers under the brand betM.
