Result of General Meeting and update on Finalto

RNS Number : 0479J

Playtech PLC

18 August 2021

 

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION; IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

18 August 2021

Result of General Meeting and update on Finalto sale process

Playtech plc ("Playtech" or the "Company") announced on 2 August 2021 that it had posted a supplementary circular to Shareholders (the "Supplementary Circular") with a notice of the adjourned General Meeting to be resumed at 10am on 18 August 2021. 

The Company announces that, at the General Meeting held earlier today, the resolution to approve the disposal of Finalto to the Consortium was not passed.  Full details of the vote are set out below.  As a result, and as described in the Original Circular and the Supplementary Circular, the Consortium have the right to terminate the SPA within the next 30 days. 

Due to the resolution not having been passed, the Consortium has agreed with Playtech to immediately terminate the SPA.  As a result, the restrictions on Playtech from engaging with Gopher are no longer in place. The Company will now seek to engage with Gopher to progress a disposal of Finalto. Although the Consortium has agreed to terminate the SPA, it has indicated to Playtech it intends to maintain the Consortium for the next 30 days, such that it will be in a position to re-enter into the SPA if the parties so agree.

In the event a new binding agreement is reached with any party a new circular to Shareholders will be required, with a General Meeting to approve the disposal.

The Board's stated strategy remains to simplify Playtech's business and to dispose of Finalto for the maximum available proceeds. Having consulted with its leading Shareholders, Playtech understands that by voting against the resolution to dispose of Finalto to the Consortium, Shareholders have been willing to accept the risk of the SPA terminating, thereby enabling Playtech to engage with Gopher and to potentially secure better terms for a sale of Finalto. 

Resolution	Votes For	%	Votes Against	%	Total Votes Cast (excl Votes Withheld)	Votes Withheld
To approve the disposal of Finalto (as described in the Original Circular and the Supplementary Circular)	76,250,230	31.7	164,288,501	68.3	240,538,731	1,896,155

As at 18 August 2021 the issued share capital of the Company was 306,356,693 ordinary shares of no par value (excluding 2,937,550 shares held as treasury shares).

Enquiries:

Playtech plc     [phone]

Chris McGinnis, Director of Investor Relations & Strategic Analysis

James Newman, Director of Corporate Affairs

UBS Investment Bank (Financial Adviser and Joint Sponsor to Playtech)  [phone]

Rahul Luthra / Sandip Dhillon / Ben Crystal

Goodbody Stockbrokers (Corporate Broker and Joint Sponsor to Playtech)    [phone]

Piers Coombs / Charlotte Craigie / Stephen Kane

Headland (PR adviser to Playtech)      [phone]

Lucy Legh / Stephen Malthouse / Jack Gault

About Playtech

Founded in 1999 and premium listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, Playtech is a market leader in the gambling and financial trading industries with c.6,400 employees across 24 countries.

Playtech is the gambling industry's leading technology company delivering business intelligence driven gambling software, services, content and platform technology across the industry's most popular product verticals, including, casino, live casino, sports betting, virtual sports, bingo and poker. It is the pioneer of omni-channel gambling technology through its integrated platform technology, Playtech ONE. Playtech ONE delivers data driven marketing expertise, single wallet functionality, CRM and responsible gambling solutions across one single platform across product verticals and across retail and online.

Playtech partners with and invests in the leading brands in regulated and newly regulated markets to deliver its data driven gambling technology across the retail and online value chain. Playtech provides its technology on a B2B basis to the industry's leading retail and online operators, land-based casino groups and government sponsored entities such as lotteries. Playtech directly owns and operates Snaitech, the leading sports betting and gaming company in online and retail in Italy.

About Finalto

Finalto is a specialist in B2C and B2B multi-channel trading software and services. The Finalto Business' B2C offering, operating the brand Markets.com, is an established online contracts for difference ("CFDs") broker where customers can trade shares, indices, currency and commodity CFDs rapidly and securely on its trading platforms.

The Finalto Business' B2B offering consists of:

a)  clearing and execution services for other retail brokers and professional clients, through Finalto Financial Services Limited (formerly CFH Clearing Limited), where the Finalto Business acts as a matched-principal liquidity provider and straight through processes the trades to prime brokers and clearing houses;

b)  clearing and execution for other retail brokers, where the Finalto Business acts as the execution venue and market-maker; and

c)  technology and risk management services, where the Finalto Business provides platform, client relationship management, reporting and risk-management technology to the retail broker market.

Additional information

UBS AG London Branch is authorised and regulated by the Financial Market Supervisory Authority in Switzerland. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom. UBS AG London Branch is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Playtech plc and no one else in connection with the process. In connection with such matters, UBS AG London Branch will not regard any other person as its client, nor will it be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the process, the contents of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

Goodbody is authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, and is also subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority. Goodbody is acting exclusively for Playtech and for no one else in connection with the process and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this announcement) as a client in relation to the process or any other matter referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Playtech for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for giving advice in relation to the process or any other matter referred to in this announcement.

 

END

 

 

ROMEAEPPFAPFEFA