Gopher may scupper Aristocrat Playtech deal
After sealing a deal for Finalto, minority shareholder Gopher Investments is considering a late counteroffer for Playtech.
UK.- Playtech agreed a deal to sell the company to Australian slot machine manufacturer Aristocrat for around £2.7bn last month. However, it’s emerged that minority shareholder Gopher Investments is exploring the possibility of making a counteroffer said to be worth as much as £3bn.
Playtech has confirmed that Gopher has made an initial approach but said only that the company had requested access to due diligence information to explore terms for a potential offer. It said discussions were at an early stage and there was no certainty of a firm offer.
The Aristocrat deal already agreed is subject to shareholder approval of the sale of Playtech’s Finalto financial trading division, which Gopher has already reached a deal to buy after seeing off a bid from the Barinboim Group.
In September, Playtech agreed to sell Finalto to Gopher for $250m after its shareholders rejected an offer by the Barinboim Group that had been backed by the board. Playtech shares were up 2.29 per cent at 724.22 pence per share in London yesterday.
Aristocrat has stressed that its agreement with Playtech was the result of “extensive engagement” and represented a firm offer.
It said: “Aristocrat’s long-term engagement with regulators across key gaming jurisdictions, together with strong financial fundamentals, deep customer relationships and established presence in global gaming markets, positions Aristocrat to complete the transaction as planned in the second quarter of the calendar year 2022.
“Aristocrat believes that this will provide certain value to Playtech shareholders, while the combined group will also provide greater opportunities to Playtech employees.
“Aristocrat will continue to work with Playtech to progress the recommended acquisition and urges Playtech shareholders to vote in favour of the Aristocrat recommended acquisition at the shareholder meetings when the scheme document has been published.”
