Playtech shareholders reject Aristocrat’s buyout attempt

Playtech shareholders reject Aristocrat’s buyout attempt

Aristocrat‘s planned purchase of Playtech for £2.7 billion has failed after the gambling technology company reported that its shareholders opted to reject the Australian-listed gaming manufacturer’s overtures. 

More on Aristocrat – Playtech Buyout Impasse

The overall number of votes voted in favor of the motion at a general meeting earlier today was 54.68 percent, well below the required minimum of 75 percent to approve the transaction.

Playtech, which had earlier expressed concern over the transaction collapsing, has announced that the acquisition “has been canceled and the scheme has lapsed.” After announcing that it has been “actively exploring its alternatives for optimizing shareholder value if the Aristocrat offer does not advance and lapses,” the group’s board of directors is now anticipated to seek a potential break-up of the company’s B2C and B2B sectors.

Following the predicted rejection, Aristocrat expressed sadness before explaining that events since the initial acquisition announcement in October 2021 had been “extremely unusual” and “essentially beyond” its control. Croker continued, however, by stating that the company’s ‘commitment to participate in the RNG industry’ as part of its overall strategy will remain unchanged.

Aristocrat’s managing director and CEO, Trevor Croker, stated that following the emergence of a group of shareholders who amassed a blocking holding, the company took “every available step to engage” to either advance the transaction or investigate alternative transaction structures.

Quotes from the Press Release

“Despite Aristocrat’s comprehensive due diligence, developments, since our offer was announced, have been exceedingly uncommon and largely beyond Aristocrat’s control,” Croker added.

“In particular, the emergence of a certain group of shareholders who amassed a blocking holding while refusing to interact with us or Playtech materially harmed the prospects for the success of our offer, which Playtech’s board of directors had endorsed.”

About Lou De Aguila

Lou Aguila is a news and feature writer for Golden Casino News. For over a decade, Lou has published news and featured articles for some of the most reputable sports betting and online casino sites in the world, including BetNow.UK, VegasOdds, and BWin. Apart from being a hardcore live casino punter, he also covers sports stories in North American leagues from time to time.