Published
Mergers & AcquisitionsIndustry

Playtech gives JKO Play 5 January 2022 deadline to make firm offer

JKO Play must make a firm offer for Playtech by 5:00 pm on Wednesday 5 January 2022 or else forfeit its bid.

DeadlineHourglass

Eddie Jordan and Keith O’Loughlin, who head gambling consortium JKO, will have a lot to consider this Christmas as their company vies with Australian juggernaut Aristocrat Leisure over Playtech’s acquisition.

JKO’s informal offer on 17 November came after Aristocrat’s multi-billion-dollar bid was accepted by Playtech’s shareholders on 12 October, pending various approvals and the sale of its financial trading division Finalto.

This latter issue was resolved when Playtech’s shareholders approved the sale of Finalto on 1 December, clearing the way for Aristocrat’s acquisition to proceed.

But JKO Play’s involvement has added an extra dimension to what would otherwise be an unopposed transaction. Gopher Investments — a Hong Kong-based company and interested buyer — withdrew its bid after acquiring Finalto, averting a potential bidding war.

With this complete, Playtech has now imposed a deadline as it looks to hasten the acquisition process. Shareholder meetings to approve Aristocrat’s offer are scheduled for 12 January.

In a statement, it said: “JKO must, by 5:00pm on 5 January 2022, being the seventh day prior to the date of the shareholder meetings, either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Playtech under Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for Playtech.

“This deadline will cease to apply if, before that time, a third party other than JKO has announced a firm intention to make an offer for Playtech under Rule 2.7.”

Premium+ Connections
Premium

RISK

 
Premium

1xBet Partners

 
Premium

Lynon

 
Premium

Galaxsys

 
 
Premium

Digitain

 
Premium

PIN-UP Partners

 
Premium

Revsharks

 
Premium

Imagine Live

 
Premium

GammaStack

 
Premium

Sport Generate

 
Premium Connections
Consultancy

SCCG Management

Executive Profiles
Zeal Network SE

Stefan Tweraser

VIP Play

Les Ottolenghi

Scientific Games

Keshav Pitani

Social & App

Spribe CEO exclusive: Simplicity is the foundation

Spribe CEO David Natroshvili speaks to Gambling Insider abou...

Redefining iGaming: A history of crash games

Crash games is a growing vertical that has taken gambling by...

A certain something: What makes crash games special?

Crash games. They’re simple, they’re easy to learn and,...

Smarter innovation to shape the future

Spribe CCO Giorgi Tsutskiridze discusses the past, present a...

Facing Facts: The corner of quarterly contemplation

With Q1 reports out across the industry, Gambling Insider co...

Taking Stock: A guide to key stock prices across the industry

Gambling Insider tracks prices from some of the industry’s...

15 years of Gambling Insider: From the Founders

Over the last 15 years, Gambling Insider magazine has interv...

15 years of Gambling Insider: The Awards over time

Global Gaming Awards Event Manager Mariya Savova gives us he...