SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The board of Entain Plc has secured a first lien term loan valued at $1.12 billion (€995m) to refinance the company’s long-term corporate debt holdings.
Updating investors, the FTSE100 gambling group will use the proceeds of its new loan to refinance its outstanding $774 million loan, which was due to mature from 29 March 2024.
The transaction sees Entain expand its loan term maturity rates to 29 March 2027, priced at the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 250 basis points, or 2.5%.
The loan’s outstanding $350 million (€295m) will be made available to Entain governance for the purpose of accelerating the firm’s corporate development, including mergers and acquisition activities.
Duties carried by the loan will be maintained by the subsidiaries of Entain Holdings Gibraltar and GVC Finance Ltd, with the transaction expected to be finalised by end of July proceedings.
Ahead of publishing its interim trading results on 12 August, Entain increased its full-year earnings forecast to the range of £850-to-£900 million, following better than anticipated H1 results, driven by the significant growth of its sports betting verticals.
Further corporate developments, saw Entain announce that it would double investment and headcount to accelerate development of its new in-house games’ studio during this year.
