Brickington Trading Ltd., the largest shareholder in gambling software provider Playtech, has decided to dispose of a 12% stake in the afore-mentioned company. It was announced today that Brickington has offloaded a total of 38.7 million shares in Playtech at 850 pence per share.
Playtech’s largest shareholder is owned by Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi, who co-founded the gambling supplier back in 1999. The company announced on Tuesday that it would sell 32.2 million common shares of Playtech. However, as the provider itself said today, Brickington has eventually decided to increase the sale to 38.7 million shares, due to strong investor interest.
As mentioned above, the shares sold represent 12% of Playtech’s whole share capital. The company’s current market cap stands at around £2.8 billion.
The placing is to be completed on Friday, with investment bankers UBS Limited, Canaccord Geuity Limited, and Credit Suisse Securities Limited acting as bookrunners. The sale would reduce Brickington’s stake in Playtech to 21.6% from 33.6% before the sale was announced. It was also announced that the Sagi-owned firm would collect around £330 million from the placing. The 850 pence price represented a 7% discount from Tuesday’s market close of 919 pence per ordinary share.
Following the sale, Brickington now owns a total of 69,582,169 shares in the gambling developer and supplier. The company said that it would not offload further shares for a period of no less than 180 days.
It is believed that the sale took place as Teddy Sagi is looking to further diversify his portfolio. Most recently, the Israeli businessman purchased the Holborn Links Estate in London for the approximate amount of £300 million. Located in the central part of the English capital, the estate is comprised of 34 properties spreading across 4 acres. Mr. Sagi’s portfolio also includes London’s iconic Camden Market, which he acquired last year.
Even after the sale of a 12% stake in Playtech, the business tycoon is still the largest shareholder in the company he had co-founded. Generally speaking, Playtech specializes in the development of multi-channel solutions for the global gambling industry. As from last year, it also operates a growing financial division.
Recently, the company announced that it would venture even further in the financial world with the acquisition of B2B technology company Consolidated Financial Holdings (CFH) for a total consideration of $120 million.
