DoubleU Games Launches a $16.25-per-ADS Tender Offer to Take DoubleDown Interactive Private

DoubleU Games and DoubleDown Interactive signed a definitive Tender Offer and Post-Offer Cooperation Agreement on 9 November 2026. DoubleU Games, which already owns about 67.05% of DoubleDown, will buy every American Depositary Share it does not hold for $16.25 in cash, and then take the company private. The joint press release describes the agreement, and the offer opened the next day, with the Offer to Purchase filed with the SEC on 10 November.

Each ADS represents one-twentieth of a DoubleDown common share, so the price works out at $325.00 per common share. Once the offer closes, DoubleU Games will acquire the remaining shares through a second-step transaction under the Korean Commercial Act at the same price, make DoubleDown a wholly owned subsidiary and delist the ADSs from the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Cash per ADS

$16.25

Premium to the unaffected price

76.8%

Cash required for the offer and second step

$265.4m

The price rose 44% from the first proposal

DoubleU Games delivered its first non-binding proposal on 27 April 2026 at $11.25 per ADS and disclosed it the next day. Holders wrote to the special committee of independent directors to say the price was too low. In the Offer to Purchase, DoubleU Games records a revised proposal of $14.50 on 13 September, described as not final. The special committee countered at $20.00, and DoubleU Games came back at $16.25, which it called the most it could support and later confirmed as its best and final offer. That figure is more than 44% above the first proposal.

1. 27 April 2026DoubleU Games proposes $11.25 per ADS and files a regulatory disclosure with the Korea Exchange.
2. 27 May 2026The adviser to a US-listed strategic company contacts DoubleDown’s CFO to reach the special committee about a rival acquisition.
3. 25 June 2026That bidder, identified only as Party A, submits an indicative non-binding proposal at $15.00 per ADS, an equity value of about $744m.
4. 13 September 2026DoubleU Games raises its position to $14.50 per ADS, a revised but not final proposal.
5. 16 September 2026After the special committee counters at $20.00, DoubleU Games moves to $16.25 per ADS and calls it the most it can support.
6. 1 October 2026Party A says it could lift its price to $17.00 per ADS if it is given access to DoubleDown’s non-public information.
7. 6 October 2026DoubleU Games declines to go higher and confirms $16.25 in cash as its best and final offer, with financing committed.
8. 9 November 2026DoubleU Games and DoubleDown sign the agreement; the board unanimously recommends the offer to unaffiliated holders.
9. 10 November 2026The tender offer opens and the Schedule 13E-3 and Schedule 14D-9 are filed.
10. 10 December 2026The offer expires at 5:00 p.m. New York time unless it is extended.

A US-listed strategic bid was tested against a firm offer

The Offer to Purchase sets out that the special committee took the rival approach seriously. It asked Party A to bid on the strength of public information, received the $15.00 proposal, and then asked how it would be financed. Party A’s adviser supplied a “highly confident” letter describing new debt and a refinancing of its existing borrowings. Kroll Securities, the committee’s adviser, asked for commitment papers and raised the Korean-law limits on using DoubleDown’s own assets to fund an acquisition.

On 1 October Party A said it could go to $17.00 per ADS if it were given non-public information. On 6 October the committee chose to proceed with DoubleU Games: its offer sat inside Kroll’s valuation range, came with committed financing and no further diligence, and DoubleU Games, as a 67.05% holder, had made clear it was a buyer and not a seller. The committee was not confident the rival proposal was credible given the Korean financing restrictions, and it did not want to risk the certain offer by prolonging the process.

The committee acted on a fairness opinion from Kroll, operating through its Duff & Phelps Opinions Practice, that the $16.25 price is fair from a financial point of view to unaffiliated holders. Kroll’s preliminary indicative valuation range, based on management projections, was $15.00 to $20.00 per ADS, and the final price sits inside it. The committee negotiated with its own advisers: Ropes & Gray and Lawfirm Goodplan as counsel, and Kroll Securities as financial adviser.

Two conditions decide whether the offer closes

DoubleU Games states that reaching 95% would require about 85% of the shares held by holders other than itself to be tendered. If the offer is not complete by the 10 March 2027 outside date, either side can end the agreement. Neither party owes a break fee, and the board can still receive and respond to an unsolicited proposal.

Funded from cash on hand and a KRW 300bn bridge

The offer carries no financing condition. DoubleU Games expects to fund the offer and the second step with about KRW 100bn of its own cash, cash equivalents and short-term instruments (about $74.5m) and a bridge loan facility of up to KRW 300bn. Korea Investment & Securities is mandated lead arranger, facility agent and security agent. DoubleU Games estimates the total cash required at about $265.4m plus fees and expenses. Paul Hastings and Kim & Chang advise DoubleU Games; Greenberg Traurig and Bae, Kim & Lee advise DoubleDown.

What DoubleU Games is buying

DoubleDown’s flagship title is DoubleDown Casino, a social casino game on mobile and web platforms. The group added SuprNation, which runs three real-money iGaming sites in Western Europe, in October 2023, and the Hamburg social casino developer WHOW Games in July 2025. DoubleDown itself was bought from IGT in 2017 for about $825m.

The nine-month results to 30 September 2026 show social casino revenue of $231.1m, up from $219.2m, and iGaming revenue of $51.6m, up from $44.9m. The mix is shifting toward the company’s own channels: direct-to-consumer revenue reached $119.1m against $36.3m a year earlier, while third-party platform revenue fell to $112.0m from $183.0m. At 30 September 2026 DoubleDown held $483.4m of cash and $98.6m of short-term investments.

The structure is a useful reference for owners of listed gambling and social casino businesses. A controlling holder is buying out its minority in two steps, the independent committee pushed the price up 44% from the first proposal while a rival approach was on the table, and the buyer is funding the deal with its own cash and a bank bridge loan. Acquiry tracks these deals and the buyers behind them; if you run a gambling business and want to know who is buying, talk to us. Other recent deals on this desk include LCKY Group’s purchase of RoyalCasino and GiG’s acquisition of 888AFRICA.