Billionaire investor Teddy Sagi and his assets management firm LabTech Investments Ltd. have recently purchased a 29% stake in real estate company Market Tech Holdings, known to be the owner of London’s Camden Market.
LabTech owned 71% in the firm, which means that after its last purchase it has taken full control over Market Tech. The latter floated on AIM, a London Stock Exchange market for smaller-scale business enterprises, back in 2014. The recent shares sale valued Market Tech at around £890 million.
As mentioned above, the company owns real estate assets in Camden, London. These are generally focused on retail, leisure, and entertainment. Its revenue for the trailing twelve months amounts to £139 million and its net income totals £40.5 million.
LabTech has explained its decision to take Market Tech private with plummeting share price due to which accessing capital became too costly and prevented the company from any further expansion.
Why Did Teddy Sagi Take Interest in Camden Market?
Teddy Sagi is a well-recognized figure in the international gambling industry. He is the founder of major gambling software provider Playtech, a company valued at around £3 billion, known for its presence in multiple gambling jurisdictions and its work with some of the world’s largest gambling operators and regulators.
Camden Market was created from several separate markets back in the 1970s. Over the years, it has become a favorite destination to tourists. Camden Market’s main markets are now owned by Market Tech. Mr. Sagi’s first approach toward the marketplace occurred in March 2014. He spent around £400 million for a stake, which he later on increased through a £100-million purchase of more shares in Market Tech.
To secure the profitability of his new business endeavor, the billionaire investor took it public on AIM in late 2014. Being a favorite gathering place for people of different demographic and age groups, Camden Market was seen clearly as an entity of great potential by Mr. Sagi.
Teddy Sagi and Playtech
It can be said that the businessman’s clearly increased interest in Camden Market has come on the back of a weakening interest in Playtech. Last October, Mr. Sagi offloaded around 10% of the software provider’s float. He was its largest shareholder at the time with a 33.6% stake. It became clear in November that he would sell more shares than originally expected, thus reducing his stake in the company he had found to 21.6%.
In March, Playtech announced that Mr. Sagi would sell a further 4% stake in order to devote more of his attention to investment in shared offices around London. That last piece was sold to French investment manager Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management. Under a lock-up agreement, no Playtech shares would be sold by Mr. Sagi and Boussard & Gavaudan before May 29.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the global gambling industry.
