888 in the approach to the management of online games rival Bwin

• The May 18, 2015
• Business-area

Bwin has partnership deals with several major football clubs

British online gaming group 888 said it had a focus on acquisition of competitor Bwin.party, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the company.

On Friday, GVC Holdings, a British online Paris-listed company said it had made a bid approach Bwin.

888 - whose brands include Casino-on-Net and Pacific Poker - expanding its business and Betting said in March it was looking for acquisitions.

Bwin brands like PartyPoker, PartyCasino and FoxyBingo.

Bwin shares rose by almost 10% on the news of the approach of the 888th

888 said it had "considerable industrial logic" in an alliance with Bwin.

He added that 888 shareholders, which had around 59% of the capital "irrevocably committed" to save the transaction.

Earlier this year, the bookmaker William Hill and 888 full discussions about a possible takeover by a shareholder 888 rejected the offer as too low.

Bwin.party has sponsored a series of high-profile European football clubs, including Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich and Olympique de Marseille and is a partner casino Manchester United.

The present company was formed by the merger of PartyGaming and London-listed group Bwin Austria in 2011.

In March announced that in 2014, basic earnings fell by 6% to € 101.2 million (€ 73.5).