The battle for control of Australian betting company PointsBet continues, with the group officially receiving MIXI Australia’s off-market all-cash takeover offer for PointsBet at AU$1.20 ($0.78) per share.
The offer follows the fallback provisions of a bid signed earlier this month, which stipulated a takeover if the scheme was not approved.
The PointsBet board has unanimously recommended shareholders accept MIXI’s offer, arguing it provides greater value and fewer risks than Betr’s competing proposal, which is structured as an all-scrip deal.
‘MIXI’s offer delivers certainty in the form of cash. In contrast, Betr’s proposal is speculative, conditional, and exposes shareholders to material integration and liquidity risks,’ the PointsBet board said in its own statement.
MIXI highlighted strong shareholder support, noting that more than 95 percent of votes cast—excluding Betr—favored the scheme. The Japanese firm emphasized that its offer represents a 44.6 percent premium over PointsBet’s pre-announcement price and comes with the certainty of cash and limited conditions.
Rival bidder Betr Entertainment recently alleged its vote was improperly excluded from a key shareholder meeting, setting the stage for a possible legal challenge just hours ahead of a crucial court hearing.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Betr claimed that the chair of PointsBet’s scheme meeting ‘impermissibly excluded’ its proxy vote against the proposed $1.20-per-share takeover by MIXI, Inc’s Australian subsidiary. Betr said it had lodged a valid proxy and had not revoked it.
It also warned that if its vote is not counted and results revised before the scheduled Second Court Hearing on Wednesday morning, it will contest the outcome in court.
‘Betr expects that the chair of the meeting will immediately conduct a recount of the vote and include the Betr proxy vote in full,’ the company said, adding that it continues to prepare its own unconditional takeover offer to be made directly to shareholders.
PointsBet swiftly rejected Betr’s accusations, stating they were ‘factually inaccurate and without basis.’ According to the company, a senior officer from Betr had logged in virtually and revoked the company’s proxy prior to the close of voting. No vote was subsequently cast on Betr’s behalf.
The poll, PointsBet said, was overseen by independent share registry Computershare, which confirmed the result and the revocation of Betr’s proxy before the official announcement.
With the scheme having received the required shareholder support—excluding Betr—PointsBet said it was to proceed to the Second Court Hearing in Melbourne.
If Betr follows through on its threat to challenge the vote in court, the takeover battle could be delayed further and tested in the legal arena.
Meanwhile, MIXI confirmed that it intends to dispatch its formal Bidder’s Statement to regulators and shareholders in the coming weeks. The offer is not subject to financing conditions and has already received Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval in Australia.
As the contest narrows, PointsBet shareholders now face a stark choice: accept MIXI’s fully-funded cash bid or consider Betr’s counter-offer, which remains conditional and valued at a lower effective price based on market metrics.
