Cherry cleared to delist from Nasdaq Stockholm

Swedish gambling group Cherry has been granted permission to delist its series B shares from the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, confirming that May 7 will be its final day of trading.

Earlier week, Cherry applied to Nasdaq Stockholm to delist as the consortium looking to acquire the business moved a step closer to acquiring 100% of shares in the group.

The consortium, European Entertainment Intressenter Bidco (EE Intressenter) has now acquired over 90% of the shares in Cherry, initiating a compulsory offer for the remaining shares, under the Swedish Companies Act. As a result, Cherry moved forward with plans to delist the business.

Plans to take the company private under the consortium's ownership were first revealed in February this year,  after EE Intressenter submitted a $1bn (£768.4m/€888.8m) bid for the business in December 2018. This set a price of SEK87 per share for the operator's series A and B shares.

EE Intressenter comprises UK private equity company Bridgepoint Europe, holding companies Prunius Avium and Audere Est Facere, as well as the Klein Group – headed by Cherry chairman and founder Morten Klein – Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall and executives Berkay Reyhan and Murat Can Yilanlioglu.