The acquisition battle surrounding the sports betting company PointsBet has flared up again. Betr has submitted an application to the Australian Government Acquisition Committee, requesting a temporary restraining order against the Japanese company Mixi and an investigation into its acquisition behavior. Betr accuses Mixi of trying to lock in shareholder support through procedural loopholes before the acquisition process is settled, thereby securing control over PointsBet.
Betr states that before it issued its acquisition offer to PointsBet shareholders and opened it for acceptance, Mixi took advantage of the delays brought by the ongoing Acquisition Committee process—namely, delaying the issuance of Betr's bidding statement and offer documents—to strengthen its acquisition position. This maneuver could force shareholders who have not yet made a decision to accept Mixi's proposal without having fully compared the two offers.
Betr also points out that the confidentiality agreement signed between Mixi and PointsBet has not been made public, violating the usual practice of market information transparency, and demands that the company immediately disclose the content of the agreement.
For this reason, Betr requests that the Acquisition Committee prohibit Mixi from continuing to accept shareholder offers before the end of the review and asks for a withdrawal right to be provided to shareholders. At the same time, Betr advocates extending the acceptance deadline for Mixi's offer, so that shareholders have ample time to weigh the pros and cons of both acquisition offers.
This acquisition battle is expected to continue to ferment, and the ruling of the Acquisition Committee may become a key factor influencing the direction of the transaction.
