Gopher Investments pulls out of race to acquire Playtech
Aristocrat and Eddie Jordan-led JKO Play to go head to head in battle to take supplier private
The saga of Playtech’s potential acquisition took another twist after it was announced over the weekend that Gopher Investments was abandoning its bid to take over the gaming software company.
The withdrawal will have no bearing on Gopher’s agreement to acquire Playtech’s financial trading division, Finalto. A $250m deal was struck between the pair at the end of September and is expected to complete in H1 2022.
Gopher, which owns a 4.97% stake in London-listed Playtech, sought certain due diligence from the Isle of Man-based software provider on 21 October but has since revealed, following interest from the Eddie Jordan-fronted JKO Play Limited (JKO), that it was no longer seeking to make an offer.
That leaves Australia-based B2B giant Aristocrat Leisure and JKO as the two remaining interested parties. Aristocrat has offered £2.7bn (680p per share), while JKO is yet to make a bid, despite declaring interest.
JKO is a consortium fronted by former F1 owner Eddie Jordan and Keith O’Loughlin, who was, up until July, SVP of sportsbooks and platforms at SG Digital, a division of Scientific Games.
It was reported on Thursday (18 November) that JKO approached Playtech on 5 November and had sought backing from New York investment firm Centerbridge Partners.
Aristocrat’s bid has pledged to raise funds through a combination of a capital-raising exercise, a new-term loan and utilising A$1.1bn in existing cash.
Gopher is an Hong Kong-based investment vehicle backed by investors with experience in gaming and financials and is an affiliate of TT Bond Partners.