Takeover suitor 888 Holdings has insisted it was best placed to seal a tie-up with bwin.party amid signs it could be jilted at the altar in favour of a rival 1 billion proposal. Brian Mattingley, the 888 boss, insisted that its agreement last month to buy bwin for 898.3 million in a cash-and-share deal had a “greater intrinsic value”, with a larger cash element than that in the higher offer from Sportingbet owner GVC.