Australia’s Aristocrat Faces Competition For Playtech Acquisition

Aristocrat Leisure Limited, the Australian developer of casino slot machines and digital games, might not purchase Playtech after all as there might be a rival bid coming for the international supplier of slots and live dealer games.

The rival takeover offer comes from one of Playtech’s largest individual shareholders, Gopher Investments. This company holds a 4.97 percent stake in Playtech and for now it has requested access to some due diligence information before deciding whether to submit an actual bid or not.

According to various news reports, Gopher Investments would be ready to offer around 4 billion U.S. dollars to take control of Playtech. That bid would definitely surpass the 2.9 billion U.S. dollars offered by Aristocrat.

The Australian company issued a statement through the ASX on Monday, acknowledging Gopher’s interest in Playtech but reassuring everybody that it “will continue to work with Playtech to progress the recommended acquisition”. Moreover, the statement from Aristocrat urged Playtech shareholders to vote in favour of the takeover.

Aristocrat has made the necessary steps to have the funds required for the takeover. The Australian company has already raised 673 million U.S. dollars through an institutional entitlement offer and is currently in the middle of a retail entitlement offer that should raise another 304 million U.S. dollars.

Despite the multiple rumours and media reports, Playtech insists that Gopher’s request to access certain due diligence information does not necessarily mean that they will actually make a takeover offer.

The supplier added that discussions with Gopher Investments are at an early stage, while also acknowledging that the discussions with Aristocrat will continue as the board of directors have recommended the shareholders to approve the bid from the Australian company.

Playtech was founded in 1999 and has developed into a powerful provider of video slots and live dealer games for online casinos. The company has around 6,400 employees across 24 countries, and its products can be found in almost all the largest online casinos in the world. Playtech’s live casino titles are currently broadcast from studios in the United States, Latvia, Estonia, the Philippines and Romania.

Source: . Inside Asian Gaming. November 8, 2021.