Mystery US Buyer Wanted to Buy iGaming Company DoubleDown Interactive

An unknown US-listed company recently tried to purchase South Korea-registered social casino developer and B2C iGaming operator DoubleDown Interactive. However, financial issues and shareholder interest seem to have thwarted the deal. Info About a Potential Deal Comes Up in M&A Disclosures Earlier this week, the South Korean business reported broadly flat revenue in Q3 2026. Digging through the required M&A disclosures, experts found that earlier this year, the company received an acquisition offer from a business simply called “Party A”. According to the documents, on May 27, DoubleDown CFO Joseph Sigrist was approached by an adviser representing an unidentified party interested in acquiring the entire business. Further discussions on 4 June revealed additional details about the prospective buyer, referred to as Party A. It was described as a US-listed strategic acquirer with a global presence and established familiarity with both DoubleDown and the gaming industry. Notably, Party A indicated that it could submit an offer “meaningfully above” the $11.25 per-share proposal put forward by DoubleU Games at the time. On June 25, Party A submitted a written, non-binding proposal to acquire the entire business for $15 per share, implying a total equity valuation of about $744 million. The proposed price was subsequently increased to $17 per share during further negotiations. This exceeded the final consideration of $16.25 per share that DoubleDown ultimately agreed to accept. What Hindered the Deal? Considering we’re not currently writing about DoubleDown Interactive being bought by another company, you might summarize that the proposed transaction faced several significant obstacles. It seems that financing was one of the main issues, as Party A disclosed that it had just $41 million in cash on hand, but it argued that the actual cash requirement to complete the acquisition would be considerably lower than the headline purchase price. After accounting for DoubleDown’s existing net cash position, it estimated that about $245 million in additional cash would be required. Party A expected to raise around $600 million in debt financing, covering both the refinancing of existing borrowings and the provision of new loans. Although a financial adviser issued a “highly confident letter” outlining the proposed financing arrangements, questions remained over whether using DoubleDown’s own assets to help fund the transaction would be permissible under South Korean law. In addition, DoubleDown’s largest shareholder, DoubleU Games, remained an unknown variable in the acquisition plans. Despite already owning approximately 67% of the company, it had little appetite to sell its stake. With this, the question remains what this mysterious Party A could be. One likely candidate is the B2B gaming business Inspired Entertainment. It fits the description of a US-listed company, with a $41 million cash balance and substantial debt obligations at the time of the proposal. However, this remains unconfirmed. In other news from South Korea, authorities sentenced three men to prison for working with North Korean hackers to develop and distribute illegal gambling websites.