The all-cash sale of Finalto, a minority shareholder in Playtech, was finalized today on July 11th. Gopher successfully outbid a consortium led by Barinboim Group, offering $210m. Initially, the Playtech board agreed to sell Finalto to Barinboim, but shareholders rejected this deal in favor of Gopher’s higher bid. Playtech eventually agreed to sell to Gopher in September of last year, with shareholder approval received in December. The completion of the deal, originally projected for June 30th, was delayed and now expected to be finished by mid-July.
Gopher is pleased to have completed the acquisition and expressed enthusiasm for Finalto’s business and management team. They aim to work closely together to accelerate Finalto’s global presence in the financial trading sector. Playtech made the decision to sell Finalto in March 2021, after considering divestment for two years.
It is worth noting that Playtech itself may also be sold in the near future. An acquisition by Aristocrat was initially agreed upon but fell through due to insufficient shareholder support. JKO Play showed interest in acquiring Playtech but later withdrew. In February of this year, TTB Partners, an advisory role holder for Gopher, entered the race to acquire Playtech. However, Playtech imposed restrictions on TTB Partners, preventing them from making an offer until after May 20th. The deadline for TTB Partners to submit a bid was initially set for June 17th but was subsequently extended to July 15th.
