Parlay Receives Latest Expression of Interest

A new suitor has entered the Parlay Entertainment bidding process, following PEIC Acquisition's decision to withdraw its offer earlier this week.

Parlay said this morning that all three anonymous parties are in various stages of conducting due diligence, adding that it expects the three to have concluded the process by the middle of next week.

For purposes of reference, Parlay announced the PEIC offer -- offer one -- on Jan. 12; it announced offer two on Jan. 30; it announced offer three on Feb. 16; it confirmed Feb. 20 that PEIC had withdrawn its offer; and announced offer four today.

Mark Blandford's PEIC proposed CDN 0.95 per share, while the party behind offer two proposed between CDN 1.00 and CDN 1.20 per share. The values of offers three and four, however, are not known.

Regarding the PEIC offer, Parlay said Blandford's group withdrew after "communicating certain concerns about the timing and certain aspects of the transaction which Parlay was unable to resolve."

Under the terms of the original letter of intent between Parlay and PEIC, Parlay has agreed to pay the latter up to CDN $500,000 for legal, tax and accounting costs associated with its withdrawn bid.

Parlay Chief Executive Scott White told IGN Wednesday that the company's special committee is looking to submit a recommendation to the board by the end of the month.

Industry publications have suggested that Ladbrokes could be behind one of the bids, though the bookie's PR Director Ciaran O'Brien said he couldn't comment on the rumor.