Recently, MGM Resorts’ chief executive officer, Bill Hornbuckle, was asked about any change of heart following the company’s latest public statement on the acquisition bid topic. His answer led to a 4% drop in Entain’s shares.

Last fall, it was speculated that MGM Resorts would possibly make a new acquisition bid for global gaming giant Entain following the decrease in the latter’s share price in 2023 along with the ousting of now former chief executive officer Jette Nygaard-Andersen at the end of the year. 

The S&P 500 global gaming and entertainment company that features national and international locations initially said no to an acquisition bid in 2021 that gave the business an enterprise value of £8.1 billion ($10.17 billion).

That amount currently stands for an important premium on the company’s market cap of £6 billion ($7.53 billion).

“It’s About Product, Product, Product, and Focus”

The CEO replied that their main focus would be on product in the upcoming months, leaving large-scale mergers and acquisitions to the side.

Hornbuckle explained that, while attending the ICE event in London last week, he met with Stella, their partner, and talked over the importance of making sure “everyone’s focus is on BetMGM.”

He emphasized that 2024 will be a critical year for everyone, ”So, it’s about product, product, product, and focus.” His comments immediately caused Entain’s share price to fall close to 4% down to £9.22 ($11.58) prior to slightly recovering to £9.84 ($12.53).

2024, an “Investment Year” for BetMGM

In December 2023, BetMGM’s chief executive officer, Adam Greenblatt, spoke during an investor presentation, calling 2024 an “investment year” as the joint venture was trying to regain the market share that it had lost while improving its product.

Hornbuckle agreed that 2024 would be “a reinvestment year,” emphasizing the need and desire to get their product “in a better and different shape” and adding they would like additional parlays. 

“Obviously,” he continued, “the acquisition of Angstrom by our partner will be a big add to that. We’ll be able to stick out more product. We’ll have more confidence in it.”

The CEO explained that their focus will fall on baseball in the next months, with expectations to hit soccer in 2025 while putting many of their product differentiators to use in the meantime.

For the spring, Hornbuckle also discussed their plan to have a single wallet in play. As for when they will begin to make some cash, 2025 seems to be on the horizon. 

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