Aristocrat Deal for Playtech Set to Fail

Australian gaming company Aristocrat Leisure's attempted purchase of software group Playtech looks like it will fail, as proxy votes on the transaction from the latter look like they'll fall short of the 75% needed to push the deal through.

Aristocrat had submitted an offer for $3.7 billion last year for the software group, subject to shareholder approval. Now, it appears that the deal will fall through, and Aristocrat is working to figure out their next steps.

Commenting on the upcoming failure, Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker said, "We are disappointed that our recommended offer to acquire Playtech plc is expected to lapse. Notwithstanding extensive due diligence on Aristocrat's part, developments since the announcement of our offer have been highly unusual and largely beyond Aristocrat's control.

"In particular, the emergence of a certain group of shareholders who built a blocking stake while refusing to engage with either ourselves or Playtech materially impacted the prospects for the success of our offer, which had been recommended by the Board of Playtech.

"The long-term interests of our shareholders are the absolute focus of M&A at Aristocrat. We will always take a highly disciplined, strategic approach to our investment choices, consistent with our customer-centric philosophy."

There currently doesn't appear to be a formal offer on the table for Playtech, and the company said that they'd investigate selling off its B2B and B2C businesses in order to maximise value to shareholders.