Deal of the day
Shares in the British gaming software development company Playtech have risen by more than 4% in early trading on July 13, as investors have applauded its latest initiative in putting its cash pile to work.
Playtech is paying €138m in cash to buy the Austrian company Best Gaming Technology (BGT). Vienna-based BGT is one of Europe’s leading provider of proprietary technology to the self-service betting terminal (SSBT) market, with many of the European best-known bookmakers as customers.
The company generated EBITDA of €12.9m on sales of €41.6m in 2015 and continues to grow quickly. In the first half of 2015 it almost matched the earnings it generated in the whole of 2015. Playtech is buying 90% of the company’s shares, with an option to buy the remaining 10% from the company’s founder at a valuation of 6x 2019 EBITDA, subject to a cap.
For Playtech the deal represents the acceleration of its acquisition programme following the purchase of the smaller Swedish company Quickspin in May, and gives growing confidence to shareholders in the board’s strategy, which suffered a setback in 2015 when the intended merger with Plus500 fell through. Playtech has also been linked with a number of other European and North American gaming software companies. With cash still on its balance sheet, further deals are expected in the forseeable future.
Of the BGT deal, chief executive Mor Weizer says: “BGT is the leading provider of sports betting software and solutions for gaming and sports betting operators in what is one of the fastest growing verticals of our industry. BGT offers the market’s most sophisticated retail sports solution which is also both modularised and flexible, allowing Playtech to quickly integrate with its own platform. As the only company that will offer [fixed odds betting terminals] FOBTs and SSBTs, all integrated with the world’s leading online platform and products, Playtech will realise the potential of a true omni-channel offering for the benefit of both consumers and operators.”
This story first appeared on Acquisitions Daily, a leading publication that provides critical comment, analysis and statistics on every important issue in acquisitions, mergers and buyouts. Sign up here for a free trial.
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