Eminence Capital Chides Entain on Share Sale, Warns MGM Could Pounce

Eminence Capital — one of the largest Entain Plc (OTC: GMVHY) investors — decried the gaming company’s recent share sale to fund an acquisition, noting the sportsbook operator had other avenues to raise cash and could be inviting a takeover at an artificially low price.

Extending a long-running acquisition spree, Entain announced it is selling shares equivalent to 8% of its market capitalization to fund a $750 million of STS Holding — Poland’s biggest sportsbook operator. While the buyer promised the deal will be accretive to earnings per share (EPS), investors punished the stock on Thursday. With the help of a letter to Entain’s board from Eminence CEO and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Ricky Sandler, the stock recouped some of those losses yesterday.

Still, the hedge fund boss didn’t mince words, noting the market’s repudiation of the share sale news “should be a wake-up call to Entain’s tone deaf Board and management team.”

Sandler added that while the STS may add to Entain’s earnings, those gains aren’t worth the price being paid for the Polish firm.

 

[GamblingBoy]

Eminence Capital, being one of the stakeholders in Entain Plc was right to had decried the recent Entain share sale in order to fund an acquisition when it had other sources of raising fund. This attempt alone could cause the value of Entain shares to depreciate in stocks market.