Disposal of Kalixa Group

RNS Number : 1682S

GVC Holdings PLC

19 December 2016

 

GVC Holdings PLC

 ("GVC" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Disposal of Kalixa Group

In the Group's interim financial statements issued on 20 September 2016, GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC), the multinational sports betting and gaming group, announced that it was in the process of selling its payments processing business operating under the brand name Kalixa ("Kalixa Group").

GVC is pleased to announce that it has agreed to sell the Kalixa Group to Senjō Group Pte. Ltd ("Senjō"), a global payments operator and investment firm headquartered in Singapore, for a total consideration of €29.0 million payable in cash on completion, subject to a completion accounts adjustment. The total consideration receivable by GVC is capped at €35.5 million.

Completion of the transaction ("Completion") is subject to a number of domestic and international regulatory approvals and is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2017. 

The sale does not include the wallet business currently operated by Kalixa Pay Limited, a subsidiary within the Kalixa Group, which will be closed by GVC post-Completion. In addition, prior to Completion, an amount equal to the free cash (over and above €2.1 million) in the Kalixa Group will be retained by GVC by way of dividend. The sale proceeds (net of expenses) will be applied towards reducing GVC's net debt. The sale of assets to Senjō and the run-down of Kalixa Pay will have a neutral effect on the GVC Group's EBITDA.

The Kalixa Group provides card acceptance acquiring, aggregation, and payment processing services to GVC and other corporates. The Kalixa Group will continue to provide payment processing services to GVC post-Completion under an existing contract.

For the financial year ended 31 December 2015, the Kalixa Group generated revenue of €22.7 million and a loss before interest and tax of €7.0 million⁽[1]⁾. As at 30 September 2016, the Kalixa Group had gross assets of €80.7

million, and a net book value of €41.9 million which includes €19.2 million of intangible assets. The sale in likely to result in a modest book loss on around €4m in 2017 which it is anticipated will be treated as an exceptional item.

Kenneth Alexander, CEO, said:

"We are pleased to announce the sale of Kalixa in line with our plans announced earlier in the year. Post-sale Kalixa will continue to process payments for GVC and our customers, but now with the opportunity to build a larger payment services business under new ownership which has payments as a core activity."

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For further information:

GVC Holdings PLC
Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Richard Cooper, Group Finance Director Nick Batram, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Strategy	Tel: [phone]
Houlihan Lokey - Financial Advisor to GVC
David Sola	Tel: [phone]
Cenkos Securities plc
Mark Connelly, Jeremy Osler, Camilla Hume	Tel: [phone]

Media enquiries:

Bell Pottinger - PR Adviser to GVC
David Rydell, James Newman, Anna Legge, Laura Jaques	Tel: [phone]

Bell Pottinger - PR Adviser to Senjō
Tim Williamson, Ena Yow	Tel: [phone]

About GVC Holdings PLC

GVC Holdings PLC is a leading e-gaming operator in both B2C and B2B markets. GVC has four business segments with a number of brands; Sports labels (bwin, Sportingbet, gamebookers), Gaming labels (partypoker, partycasino, Foxy Bingo, Gioco Digitale, CasinoClub), B2B and non-core assets. GVC acquired bwin.party digital entertainment plc on 1 February 2016. The Group is headquartered in the Isle of Man, is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index and has licences in more than 15 countries.

For more information see the Group's website: www.gvc-plc.com 

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[1] The rate of exchange used to convert £ is £1:€1.20

 

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