Sports betting firm GVC offers to buy Bwin.Party - FT

(Reuters) - Sports betting and gaming company GVC Holdings Plc has offered to buy bigger rival Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc for about 900 million pounds, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. GVC's offer is comprised of cash and stock and values Bwin.Party's shares at around 110 pence per share, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.ft.com/1S743D1) GVC, whose bid is being backed by Canadian gaming group Amaya Inc , would likely launch a share placement to help fund its bid, the FT said. The proposal comes as Bwin.Party is exploring a sale and is in talks with GVC and British online gaming company 888 Holdings Plc <888.L>, the newspaper said. Consolidation in the gaming industry has gathered pace as high taxes and increased regulation in some of the biggest markets has hurt companies. Bwin.Party, created by the merger of sports betting group Bwin and online poker group PartyGaming in 2011, said in November that it was considering a range of proposals from interested parties. GVC Holdings and Bwin.Party could not be reached immediately for comments. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft)