JKO may enter Playtech takeover battle

JKO has emerged as a third suitor for Playtech, increasing the chances of a bidding war for the FTSE250 gambling technology provider.

UK.- The board of Playtech Plc has confirmed that it’s been approached by a third potential buyer. The FTSE250 gambling technology provider has already reached an agreement with Australia’s Aristocrat Leisure when its minority shareholder Gopher investments stepped in with an offer last week.

Now it’s emerged that JKO Play Limited, a consortium which is led by the former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan and former Scientific Games SVP for sportsbook and platforms Keith O’Loughlin, also made a preliminary approach to the company as far back as November 5.

Playtech confirmed that it has given JKO access to due diligence information to present a potential formal offer. JKO’s bid was said to be reported to be contingent on funding from New York private equity fund Centerbridge Partners.

The company said: “Discussions with JKO are at an early stage and ongoing. As such, there can be no certainty that JKO’s approach will result in an offer for the Company, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made.”

For now, Aristocrat remains the favourite and Playtech’s board is still recommending its 680p per share cash offer. That would require a shareholder guarantee regarding the sale of the company’s financial services division Finalto, which Gopher intends to acquire.

It’s been suggested that JKO or Gopher would need to beat Aritocrat’s offer by £3bn and offer shareholder incentives to be in with a chance.

Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker said he was confident the company could deliver the greatest value to Playtech investors, creating a dominant international land-based and digital gaming B2B technology provider for tier-1 gambling groups.

He said: “Aristocrat’s recommended offer to acquire Playtech, announced after period end, is another demonstration of our appetite to accelerate the implementation of our strategy through accretive M&A, in particular where it can deliver new capabilities and access to significant growth opportunities.

“We are focused on achieving necessary approvals, and continue to expect the acquisition to complete in the second quarter of calendar year 2022.”