Playtech Shares Slide As Asian Investors Stay Silent

Nervous investor on the Playtech deal with Aristocrat saw shares drop on Monday in the iGaming technology company by 5% to £5.84 a share and is now 14% lower than the offer Aristocrat made for the company at £6.80.

The reason is that a section of Asian investors in Playtech are not speaking at all to the Australian machine manufacturer and hence the company does not know if they will vote for or against the deal.

In total there is some 20% of shares owned by Asian investors such as Karen Lo with 5% with her Future Capital Group and is the granddaughter of Dr Lo Kwee-seong the owner of drinks giant Vitasoy.

Then there is Paul Suen who owns 4.1% and is the owner of Birmingham Football Club and VIP Mayfair Casino Les Ambassadeurs. They are the two biggest but a large block seem to be refusing to side either way with the offer.

For the deal to be approved at least 75% of shareholders must approve the takeover, leaving at present the whole deal in jeopardy, some observers believe that Aristocrat may well have to up the offer to get the Asian investors on board.