EE Intressenter starts takeover bid for Cherry

Business News

European Entertainment Intressenter BidCo AB “EE Intressenter” a company jointly controlled by a consortium consisting of Bridgepoint Advisers Limited acting as managers for and on behalf of the limited partnerships comprising the Bridgepoint Europe VI Fund (“Bridgepoint”), Prunus Avium Ltd, Klein Group AS, Audere Est Facere AS, Pontus Lindwall, Berkay Reyhan and Can Yilanlioglu have announced a recommended public cash offer to the shareholders in Cherry AB (publ), to tender all shares of series A and series B in Cherry not held by the Consortium to EE Intressenter at a price of SEK 87 per share.

The price in the Offer cannot be increased by EE Intressenter. The shares of series B in Cherry are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. The shares of series A in Cherry are not listed.

The offer, the shareholders in Cherry SEK 87 in cash per share of series A and series B in the Company not held by the Consortium. EE Intressenter will not increase the price in the Offer. By this statement EE Intressenter cannot, in accordance with the Takeover Rules, increase the price in the Offer. No commission will be charged in connection with the Offer.

The total number of shares in Cherry is 105,668,026, of which 4,988,000 are shares of series A and 100,680,026 are shares of series B. The Offer comprises all shares in Cherry not held by the Consortium. The total Offer value based on all shares in Cherry amounts to SEK 9,193 million.

Mika Herold, Partner at Bridgepoint Advisers Limited, commented on behalf of the Consortium: “We have followed Cherry closely for a long time and have the highest regard for the success and impressive track record that Cherry and its divisional management teams have achieved through driving innovation in the iGaming sector. However, we also believe that many of the opportunities and challenges facing Cherry and its subsidiaries are easier to approach in a private setting and with a more favourable capital structure.

The changing regulatory environment together with necessary measures to defend and increase Cherry’s market share over time, will require significant investment. We have presented a financially attractive offer for the shareholders, which is reaffirmed by the support received from some of Cherry’s largest shareholders. We are confident that the consortium members will be good stewards for the business and the employees going forward.”

Cherry is one of Scandinavia’s oldest gaming companies, with operations extending back to 1963. Cherry invests in, owns and develops fast-growing gaming, media and entertainment companies. The diversified business structure has been developed, inter alia, as a result of Cherry’s strategy to continuously develop its business through acquisitions. Today, the group consists of five business areas: Online Gaming, Game Development, Online Marketing, Game Technology and Restaurant Casino.

Bridgepoint together with the other members of the Consortium, the highest regard for the success and impressive track record that Cherry and its dedicated management teams have achieved through driving innovation in the iGaming sector.

The members of the Consortium believe that many of the challenges facing Cherry and its subsidiaries, including the changing regulatory environment and continued international expansion, are easier to approach in a private setting with an appropriate and more flexible capital structure. Furthermore, the members of the Consortium believe that Cherry will be able to maximise value by focusing on driving the performance of the individual business units rather than managing the combined entity as a public company.

Bridgepoint intends to provide the necessary external equity financing of the Consortium, including further capital and resources to be invested into the business divisions to support growth and a more significant acquisition strategy.

Bridgepoint and the other members of the Consortium place great value on Cherry’s organization, and expect that the Offer will support growth and create long-term positive effects for employees, customers and other stakeholders impacted by the operations of Cherry. EE Intressenter has not made any resolutions that are expected to cause the Offer to have an impact on Cherry’s or EE Intressenter’s organizations, management teams or employees, including their terms of employment, or on the locations of Cherry’s or EE Intressenter’s operations.

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