The new loan will be used to refinance an existing first lien term loan B worth $774m, which is set to mature on March 29, 2024. In addition, it will provide an extra $351m to support corporate development and merger and acquisition activities. The loan has been priced at the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 250 basis points, or 2.5%. The borrowers will be Entain’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Entain Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited and GVC Finance LLC. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of July.
Entain recently increased its earnings forecast for the fiscal year 2021 to a range of £850m and £900m following a strong first half performance. According to the operator’s trading update, total net gaming revenue (NGR) in Q2 rose by 42%. This suggests a total of approximately £2.23bn, given that H1 2020’s NGR was £1.62bn. Entain also announced that it plans to double its investment in its in-house game studios. The group anticipates doubling its headcount to about 300 individuals across its three in-house studios located in the UK, Italy, and India, within a year.
