Bally’s Set To Purchase Parent Company Of World Poker Tour

Bally’s Corporation is offering $105 million to acquire Allied Esports Entertainment, which owns the World Poker Tour. The offer likely concludes a months-long bidding war between Bally’s and Element Partners for the poker asset.

Element Partners, a private growth equity firm, has until 5:00 PM PST on March 29, 2021, to offer a superior proposal to that of Bally’s. If that happens, Bally’s will have some time to re-up its proposal again.

The Bidding War Between Element And Bally’s

On January 19, 2021, Element Partners, a private growth equity firm, offered $78.25 million for Allied Esports Entertainment. The bid resulted in many news outlets reporting the sale as all but final, but there was a catch. The agreement gave Allied Esports Entertainment the option to consider a higher offer.

That higher offer came on March 5, 2021, when Bally’s offered $100 million for both Allied and World Poker Tournament. However, that offer was amended on March 16, 2021, to $90 million for just World Poker Tournament.

Element Partners responded with a $90.5 million offer for World Poker Tournament. On March 25, 2021, Bally’s submitted a better offer of $105 million for Allied Esports Entertainment and World Poker Tournament.

World Poker Tour Acquisition Part Of Bally’s Ongoing Expansion

Bally’s is also reportedly acquiring Tropicana Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, as well as Jumer’s Casino & Hotel in Rock Island, Illinois, and MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Further, Bally’s is building a casino in State College, Pennsylvania, which will be close to Penn State campus as well as the Nittany Mall.

On top of the casinos, Bally’s acquired sports betting company Bet.Works in November 2020. In January 2021, Bally’s also acquired Monkey Knife Fight, a daily fantasy sports operator.

According to the Bally’s Corporation website, the company “owns and manages 10 casinos across 6 states, a horse racetrack, and 13 authorized OTB licenses in Colorado.”