Barinboim maintains $210M bid to buy Playtech's Finalto business despite investors rejection

Earlier this week, Playtech’s shareholders rejected the deal to sell the Finalto business for $210 million to a consortium led by Israel-based Barinboim Group, voting 68% against it.

Following the news, the consortium to buy Playtech PLC’s financial trading division has expressed “disappointment” by the decision, which leaves an opening for a rival bid by Gopher Investments. Gopher aims at re-entering talks with Playtech over a $250 million all-cash offer with an additional $10 million break free.

The bid had been lodged in July, although Playtech’s board raised concerns with Gopher about its ownership structure and regulatory obstacles when rejecting the offer back then, which led to continuing with the Barinboim proposal.

The Hong Kong-based group, which is a 4.97% Playtech shareholder, announced on Thursday that it is now expecting to complete the acquisition “in an expedient and transparent manner.”

London-listed Playtech said it was now seeking to complete the sale of Finalto to Gopher, which would force the company to pay the Barinboim consortium $8.8 million if investors vote against the deal that was agreed between the two parties back in May.

Despite the seemingly negative outlook for its acquisition purposes, the Barinboim-led consortium maintains that its deal is the best option for the company, reports Alliance News.

In an emailed statement to said news source, the consortium said it “firmly believes the deal, negotiated after an onerous 18-month process led by UBS, involving extensive regulatory, financial and tax diligence, represents the only transaction capable of withstanding regulatory scrutiny and being concluded in the near terms without material disruption and damage to the Finalto business.”

The consortium has now 30 days to re-enter the sale and purchase agreement. “If Playtech has not managed to enter into a fully binding agreement with Gopher within the next three weeks, it will be clear that Gopher’s interest is not genuine,” further adds the statement.

Were the online gaming and gambling software provider unable to negotiate with Gopher or any other potential buyers, “the only credible transaction capable of concluding in the near term would be to the Consortium, which has already been recommended by Playtech multiple times,” remarks the consortium’s statement.