World Poker Tour Bidding War Ends in $105M Deal, Private Equity Beats Bally’s

The World Poker Tour (WPT) testament be sold, pending regulatory approval, for $105 million. Allied Esports is the seller, and the buyer is Element Partners, LLC, a private equity unwavering based inwards Wayne, Pa.

A high-stakes bidding war for the WPT apace escalated o'er the past month 'tween Element and the fresh formed Bally’s Corporation. After Allied initially planned to unload the poker business sector to Element for $78 zillion inwards January, Bally’s made an unsolicited $100 meg offering for WPT, as fountainhead as Element’s esports assets.

A back-and-forth ensued, with Bally’s earliest this month amending its offer to $105 million for only the WPT. Allied said during its investors call in this calendar week that Element matched the offer, and after reviewing the two proposals, Element was deemed the victor.

“On March 24, 2021, Allied Esports announced that Bally’s had offered $100 million, so $105 zillion for the World Porker Tour,” Frank Ng, Allied Esports Entertainment CEO said on the call. “On Mar 30, Allied Esports proclaimed that Element had offered $105 million for the World Poker Tour, which Allied Esports accepted.”

Allied Esports Entertainment was formed in August of 2019 when blackamoor Ridge Acquisition Group combined Allied Esports and WPT into single entity, and took the combined unit public.

Shares of the society were mat yesterday on intelligence of the WPT sale. However, they were upward 2.78 percent today to shut at $2.96 per share.

WPT Financials

Allied Esports’ Q4 2020 earnings results revealed that the World Poker Tour had a strong destination to the year.

The WPT generated revenue of $5.9 gazillion inwards the net tercet months, a 30.7 percent make on Q4 in 2019. Net income was or so $900,000, compared with a $100,000 deprivation inward the prior year.

While restrictions on hosting events since the embark on of the pandemic hold been stricter inward the United States than sure places around the mankind during the fourth quarter, WPT was able-bodied to contain both unrecorded and online events in other countries,” Allied Esports CFO Tony Hung explained.

In a span of just 18 days, the WPT held 154 poker events with more than 60,000 entries and sum up appreciate pool in inordinateness of $2 million.

Esports Back

Allied disposing of the WPT returns the troupe to an esports-only group.

The company’s briny asset is its HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino inwards Las Vegas. The 30,000-square-foot multilevel locale is the for the first time dedicated esports scene of action on the Strip.

Allied returned unrecorded esports competitions at the scene of action inward late June. HyperX’s Sat Night Speedway featuring Mario Kart 8 is back, too. Player enrolment begins at simply $10, and qualifying races scratch at 6:45 pm. group A $700 award pool is upwardly for grabs.

Tournament content remained limited to 35 percent inward Q4. However, that point of accumulation was increased to 50 percent in effect(p) March 15.