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.
