London-based gambling software development company Playtech has delayed a $3.7 billion takeover by slot machine maker Aristocrat.
The potential acquisition was announced in October, with plans for Australia-based Aristocrat to raise $964.2 million in a share sale to help fund the purchase.
Playtech is instead kickstarting a bidding war after Aristocrat’s rival JKO Play expressed interest in purchasing the business last November.
The U.K. Takeover Panel is giving JKO Play until Jan. 26 to make an offer to purchase Playtech.
Over the past year, Playtech has offloaded several properties.
- In January 2021, the company completed the sale of British software developer YoYo Games to Opera for $10 million.
- It sold its financial trading division Finalto to Gopher Investments in September in an all-cash deal valued at $250 million.
Sports Betting Ties
In October 2020, Aristocrat CEO Trevor Crocker said the company was looking to either “buy or build” its way into sports betting.
The company wasted no time, participating in a $15 million financing round for sports betting technology startup Simplebet last March.
