Playtech JV one of eight interested in OPAP stake
Other bidders for 33% stake include Chinese business conglomerate Fosun International.
A total of eight candidates have submitted expressions of interest to acquire the Greek government’s 33% stake in gaming monopoly OPAP.
Among the potential suitors is a consortium involving Playtech and German gaming machine manufacturer Gauselmann, and Fosun International, a Chinese business conglomerate with interests in and pharmaceuticals, property, steel, and mining.
The other offers are from BC Partners, Emma Delta Ltd, an Intralot Holdings Luxembourg and Intralot Investments Ltd consortium, Third Point LLC, TPG Capital, and Triple Five World Group Properties Ltd.
Based on OPAP’s stock price, the government’s 33% stake is worth around 500m, the top end valuation, according to analysts, for Playtech’s 29% stake in its joint venture with William Hill.
Analysts have valued the stake, however at closer to 1bn given the operator’s market dominance and proposed plans to enter other regulated markets and diversify its offering into online gaming in the near future.
The original stake was set at 29% which would have seen the government retain 5%, however the amount for sale was increased in September following pressure from international creditors such as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
The sale is part of a raft of efforts to privatise state assets in order to raise 2.6bn to relieve the EU member state’s crippling national debt.
The stake in OPAP, Greece’s most profitable state company with the exclusive rights to operate and manage lottery and sports betting games in the country, was predicted to attract much interest.
Software giant Playtech’s consortium bid follows its JV with Gauselmann’s online subsidiary, Merkur Interactive, ahead of expected revisions to German gaming regulation. The bid for OPAP would see Gauselmann own 55%, Playtech Ltd 41% and Helvason 4%.
Greece’s privatisation agency, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund’s (HRADF) advisors will examine all submissions and, within the next few days, send its recommendations to the HRADF board of directors, indicating which candidates meet the selection criteria for the next phase of the tender.
HRADF’s CEO Yannis Emiris said in a statement: “We are satisfied by the response of the investment community, which has demonstrated its trust in the prospects of the country, despite the difficult economic situation. The number and entity of the submissions received is also a proof of investors’ confidence in our tendering procedures.”