Israeli billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi is selling a 10.1% stake in online gambling giant Playtech, according to a Monday stock market statement. Mr. Sagi will thus reduce his holding in the company he had himself found to just 7.7%.
Playtech announced after market’s closure on Monday that its founding father had initiated the sale of a total of 32 million shares. Mr. Sagi’s Brickington Trading at present holds a 17.8% stake in the internationally recognized provider of products and services for the gambling industry.
As seen in the Monday stock market announcement, the Israeli businessman would use the money he receives from the share sale to fund his continued and increasing “focus on real estate and real estate-related investments”.
Mr. Sagi has recently bought a 29% stake in Market Tech Holdings, the real estate company behind London’s Camden Market. His assets management vehicle LabTech Investments Ltd. had previously owned a 71% in Market Tech Holdings. This means that Camden Market, a popular tourist attraction in London, focused on the provision of retail, leisure, and entertainment services is now fully owned by the billionaire investor.
It has recently been announced that after Mr. Sagi had taken full control over Market Tech, his next step in his real estate endeavors would be to take the company private.
It can be said that the businessman’s growing interest in real estate has been boosted by reduced interest in Playtech. Mr. Sagi began offloading his stake in the gambling company last fall. At that time, he was Playtech’s largest shareholder with a 33.6% stake in the iGaming enterprise. He first brought his holding to 21.6%. The billionaire businessman then sold an almost 4% stake to further reduce his participation in the company.
Based on Playtech’s price upon Monday closure, it is estimated that Mr. Sagi may collect over £300 million from the sale of 32 million shares.
Goodbody Stockbrokers, Shore Capital, and UBS were the three brokers Mr. Sagi had engaged to handle his latest shares sale. More information on the move is expected to be released later today. A lock-up agreement will prevent the businessman from selling further shares in Playtech for a period of 180 days.
Mr. Sagi founded the gambling provider back in 1999. The company went live with its first casino product two years later. Since then, it has expanded its product and services portfolio to include omni-channel offering. Playtech currently boasts presence in multiple jurisdictions across the world and supplies its products to some of the largest companies in the global gambling industry.
As of June 26, the company’s market cap stood at £3.15 billion.
