Aristocrat Leisure to buy Playtech for £2.7 billion

Aristocrat UK (Bidco), a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian gambling equipment maker Aristocrat Leisure, has agreed to buy gaming software developer Playtech plc for £2.7 billion  ($3.7 billion).

The company made an acquisition offer for Playtech’s ordinary shares at 680 pence ($9.35) per share, which is 58.4% to the closing price on October 15. This puts the entire issued ordinary share capital of Playtech at £2.1 billion on a fully diluted basis and around £2.7 billion on an enterprise value basis.

Trevor Croker, Chief Executive Officer of Aristocrat, commented:

The proposed combination would bring together Aristocrat’s world-class gaming content, customer and regulatory relationships with Playtech’s industry-leading global online RMG platform (B2B) and European B2C footprint.

acquisition

He further explained that the combined group will offer a broader portfolio of end-to-end solutions for gaming customers around the globe.

Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech, said:

Mor Weizer, Playtech

Mor Weizer

This transaction marks an exciting opportunity in the next stage of growth for Playtech, and delivers significant benefits to our stakeholders, including our customers, our shareholders and our incredibly talented people. This deal has the potential to enhance our distribution, our capacity to build new and deeper relationships with partners, and bolsters our technological capabilities. The combination of our two companies builds one of the largest B2B gaming platforms in the world, with the people, infrastructure and expertise to provide our customers with a truly best-in-class offer across all areas of gaming and sports betting.

Earlier in September, Playtech agreed to sell its financial business Finalto to Gopher Investments for $250 million in cash.

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