LVS To Make Offer For Playtech?

Is Las Vegas Sands About to join the battle for Playtech? According to sources close to the business it is rumoured that the company that was controlled by Sheldon Adelson until his death at the beginning of this year may make an offer for the online gambling technology supplier.

Indeed in reporting the companies first results since the death of their founder in January CEO Robert Goldstein was quoted that Las Vegas Sands were interested in getting into the sector by saying, “I have very strong thoughts about this, “we just want to keep working toward our goals. It’s a very interesting business. The question is can we bring something to the table that can make a lot of money.”

It was later mentioned that should they venture into the sector they would look at a B2B service provider to acquire possibly so the casino operator can develop their own software. That would allow them to gain a foothold in the ever expanding US sports betting market.

The current valuation of Playtech is at £2.7 billion even if that was to rise towards £3 billion it would not cause any problems for the operator that has casinos in the US, Macau and Singapore.

With Playtech management already accepting an offer from Aristocrat Leisure but now there are more players with former F-1 team owner Eddie Jordan and Keith O’Loughlin, a former senior executive from Scientific Games have along with major investors have asked also for due diligence on Playtech. Under the name JKO Play Limited Jordan and O’Loughlin are seeking institutional investment for a potential offer.

Playtech are certainly still in play and there is still time for Las Vegas Sands to enter the fray, if the rumours are true expect the US based casino giant to make a move before the end of the year.