TAB Australian Article

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Tabcorp’s board faces a tough few days as it weighs the options for the sale of its underperforming wagering and media business, with a decision expected within a week.Market chatter suggests the Tabcorp board will meet within the week, or perhaps as early as Sunday, to make a call on the best option for the division – a choice between cash offers from Entain and Apollo Capital, a cash and scrip bid from ASX-listed BetMakers, or a spin-out of the business into a new listing.The decision will bring to a head about five months of speculation about the assets, triggered by the first bid for the business in February, and it’s fair to say the various players are getting a bit antsy for a final call.BetMakers and gun bookie Matt Tripp lobbed a $4bn cash and scrip offer to combine it with Tabcorp’s wagering and media arm in late May, but the group is widely seen as being out of the running, given its offer contained only $1bn cash and an offer for BetMakers scrip at a 15 per cent premium to its market price.Given BetMakers tanked after announcing its offer – it last traded at $1.08, from levels of about $1.60 ahead of the Tabcorp bid – it would take a pretty brave set of directors to accept the offer.The company did, however, manage to create a brief frisson of market excitement on Thursday morning when it entered a trading halt pending news “regarding completion of a material acquisition”, that halt is believed to be linked to the financing of BetMakers’ $56.2m purchase of the Sportech technology business in the US – first announced last December.READ MORE:Entain bid ‘could fix Tabcorp’s problems’|US lure in $4bn bid for TabcorpPrivate equity giant Apollo Global Management has offered $4bn for Tabcorp’s wagering, media and gaming services arms, or $3.5bn for just the wagering and media divisions.Just who Apollo could approach to run Tabcorp should its bid be successful is shrouded in mystery, though it could make a play for the highly regarded Mr Tripp should the BetMakers offer not gain traction.Entain is still agitating hard behind the scenes for the acceptance of its own $3.5bn cash offer, fearing the Tabcorp board will take the option of simply spinning the assets out and letting the market decide.