Aristocrat commits to online casinos after $4b deal collapses
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Australian poker machine giant Aristocrat Leisure says it will become a major player in online casino gambling one way or another, after the collapse of its $4 billion takeover of British gambling technology outfit Playtech.
The $27 billion group’s takeover of Playtech, which makes software for online casinos, was killed by a group of Hong Kong investors that bought up a blocking stake in recent months and voted against the £2.1 billion deal.
Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker said 80 per cent of the votes against the deal were from investors who bought their shares after it announced the takeover in October last year, and refused to engage over the deal.
“Obviously it’s a disappointing outcome. It was a recommended offer by the [Playtech] board and supported by the majority of Playtech shareholders,” he said. “These developments… have been largely beyond Aristocrat’s control.”
Aristocrat needed 75 per cent of votes to support the deal but just under 55 per cent went in its favour at a shareholder meeting in London on Wednesday.
The Hong Kong investors that blocked the sale were reportedly led by Playtech’s former chief executive, Tom Hall, according The Times. Mr Hall did not respond to requests for comment from The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Other members of the group include Karen Lo, the billionaire heiress to the Vitasoy soy milk fortune; professional poker player Stanley Choi; and businessman Paul Suen, who is best known for floating the Birmingham City Football Club in Hong Kong.
Aristocrat is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of poker machines and also has a growing digital business that includes both mobile video games and pokies-style “social casino” games, which are played without money.
Playtech offered Aristocrat a chance to rapidly scale up in the emerging “real money gaming” (RMG) market, a form of online gambling in which users bet money on pokies and other casino-style games. Playtech both sells online gambling software to third parties such as casinos, and also operates its own direct-to-consumer platforms.
