Playtech has announced that a management consortium has made an offer to acquire its financial trading division Finalto for a sum that could reach $200m.
The online gaming software giant confirmed the news after recent speculation in the Israeli media suggested that an Israeli-led consortium was in advanced talks to purchase the trading division. The announcement confirmed that the consortium includes Barinboim Group, Phoenix Insurance Co Ltd, Menora Mivtachim Insurance, and Leumi Partners Ltd.
Despite the announcement, Playtech has confirmed that nothing has been finalized as of yet. In a statement, the company said that “While discussions are progressing, there can be no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming nor on what terms it would occur.”
According to the company’s trading update issued on January 12th 2021, streamlining is a priority for 2021 stating that:
“it is a strategic focus of the Company to simplify its business and dispose of non-core assets”
With the recent sale of YoYo Games to Norwegian web browser company Opera, news of the impending sale of Finalto comes as no great shock. This is despite the fact that the division’s revenue grew an impressive 123% to $105.8m (€87.3m) for H1 of 2020. In fact, Playtech recently stated that Finalto had a very strong year and was one of the standout performers of the first half of 2020.
However, the company had stated as far back as August 2020 that they had intended to sell Finalto, which was then known as TradeTech, once a suitable buyer could be found.
Should Playtech agree to the sale, it’s believed that an initial $170m would be paid upon completion of the deal with the approximate $110m needed to run the business transferred immediately.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.
