Business Wire

FINALTO-S.P.V.-LTD

9.7.2021 15:28:07 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share
The Consortium Welcomes Playtech’s Postponement of General Meeting Enabling Shareholders to Scrutinise Validity of Gopher’s Interest in Finalto

Finalto S.P.V. Ltd, the consortium led by Barinboim Group and backed by Leumi Partners Limited and Menora Mivtachim Group, together with key members of the Finalto Business' management team (together the "Consortium"), welcomes the announcement issued today by Playtech plc (“Playtech”) confirming that the General Meeting due to be held on 15th July 2021 will be subject to a two-week adjournment. Playtech will hold an adjourned general meeting to vote on the binding agreement (the "SPA") between Playtech and the Consortium regarding the disposal of Finalto Group (“Finalto”) on 29 July 2021.

The Consortium recognises Playtech’s fiduciary duty to its shareholders and is pleased that Playtech and its shareholders will now have the opportunity to scrutinise the recent indicative non-binding interest for Finalto from Gopher Investments (“Gopher”).

Since Gopher announced its indicative non-binding interest on 2nd July 2021, it has revealed very little information on itself, the source of its funds and its ultimate controlling parties, all of which will be heavily scrutinised by regulators. To the best of the Consortium’s knowledge, Gopher has failed to properly answer even basic questions on these matters, which should be of great concern.

As announced previously, both Playtech and the Consortium are bound by the restrictions agreed as part of the SPA, which includes not engaging in negotiations with any third party regarding a potential transaction involving the sale of Finalto, as is customary for transactions of this nature. For the avoidance of doubt, the adjournment of the General Meeting does not change these restrictions, but the Consortium confirms that it has given Playtech a limited release to ascertain the crucial KYC and related information it requires.

The Consortium hopes that Gopher will use the extension period to now be more forthcoming and provide sufficient information so Playtech and its shareholders can properly assess the ability of Gopher to pass the intense regulatory scrutiny it will be subject to, removing considerable uncertainty for shareholders. Since Gopher's announcement from 2nd July 2021, Playtech’s share price has underperformed.

Should it be revealed by Gopher that any of its ultimate controlling parties are indeed linked to China, any acquisition is likely to raise material regulatory concerns and will be subject to even closer scrutiny.

The sale process of Finalto was initiated in 2019 and, in Playtech’s words, it has been an “elongated and thorough process ”, and the Consortium was selected taking into account not just the price, but also its “ability to complete the transaction (particularly in light of the Finalto Business’ regulated status in multiple global jurisdictions).”

The Consortium’s previous announcement dated 7th July 2021 is available here .

-ENDS-

About the Consortium

The Consortium is a company incorporated in Israel, established for the purpose of acquiring the Finalto Business. The Consortium is being funded by a group consisting of Barinboim Group, Leumi Partners Limited and Menora Mivtachim Group and by senior secured debt financing from The Phoenix Insurance Company Limited and certain of its affiliates. The Consortium will be supported by key members of the Finalto Business' management team that will transfer with the Finalto Business, including Ron Hoffman (Chief Executive Officer of the Finalto Business) and Liron Greenbaum (Chief Operations Officer of the Finalto Business).

Barinboim Group is a private equity and venture capital firm based in Tel Aviv. Barinboim Group invests in companies operating in the media sectors.

Leumi Partners Limited is the merchant and investment banking arm of Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI), one of the two largest banking groups in Israel. Leumi Partners Limited is based in Tel Aviv and offers direct equity investment in sectors such as technology media and telecom, consumer & retail, and healthcare. Leumi Partners Limited's line of business includes conducting investments and providing services such as underwriting, financial analysis and research, strategic advice, mergers & acquisitions, and raising equity and debt.

Menora Mivtachim Group is one of Israel's five largest insurance & finance groups. The group specializes in asset management, manages the largest pension fund in Israel - and is the largest General Insurer in Israel and the market leader in Motor Insurance sector. The group operates through its subsidiaries, in all sectors of Life Insurance, Long/Mid/Short -Term Savings, General Insurance and Health Insurance. In addition, the group is active in the capital markets and finance sectors, including, Financial Portfolio Management, Underwriting and worldwide real estate investments.

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Owkin to License K Pro and Multimodal Data to Servier to Advance Oncology Research11.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Owkin, the agentic AI company pioneering the first automated AI scientist to revolutionize drug discovery and development, today announced an agreement with Servier, an independent international pharmaceutical group governed by a foundation, to license K Pro, Owkin’s AI Scientist, together with multimodal patient data to advance the company’s oncology research. Under the agreement, Owkin will make multimodal patient data from its MOSAIC network accessible for analysis to Servier’s research teams, within K Pro. This agreement is the next chapter in Owkin and Servier’s collaboration, their previous work together being in patient subgroup identification, also in oncology. K Pro is Owkin’s AI scientist. It brings multimodal patient data and specialized biological agentic AI to drive smarter and faster decision-making to each step of the pharmaceutical value chain. K Pro utilizes specialized biological tools, leveraging a decade of knowledge gained through pharmaceutical partnerships and st

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award Accepts Entries Until 30 September 202611.9.2026 10:09:00 CEST | Press release

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award continues to attract strong interest from innovators, researchers and institutions worldwide as it enters the final phase of its fifth cycle. Overseen by the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia UAE) under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and with a total prize value of USD 1 million, the award promotes the development of sustainable solutions that help tackle water scarcity and improve access to safe water, particularly in communities most affected by water shortages. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260911305420/en/ HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Suqia UAE (Photo: AETOSWire) Applicants are encouraged to submit comprehensive information about their submissions, thereby helping the judging panel evaluate the various stages and mechanisms of their innovation, including water production, treatme

SES Launches New Content Orchestration and Hybrid Delivery Platform11.9.2026 07:30:00 CEST | Press release

SES CORE enables media customers to manage, monitor and orchestrate content delivery through a single interface, increasing visibility, flexibility and signal reliability SES today announced the launch of SES CORE, the first-of-its-kind content orchestration and hybrid delivery platform, designed to enable broadcasters and media customers to manage, monitor, and enable transmission of content seamlessly via satellite, fiber, and IP. Built on infrastructure-neutral architecture, SES CORE provides a single user interface for content delivery. By bringing multiple distribution technologies into a unified orchestration layer, the platform enables customers to select the most effective content delivery path, guaranteeing service reliability and consistent delivery of high-quality content to global partners. Through SES CORE, customers gain real-time visibility into service status by monitoring active content feeds. The platform provides network performance insights, automates operational ta

Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol Rolls Out Globally with Wallets and Acquirers; Initiating Collaboration on KYA Interoperability Framework with Mastercard and Visa11.9.2026 05:26:00 CEST | Press release

With payment leaders accelerating adoption, the Alipay+ ecosystem — with 50+ mobile payment partners, over 10 national QR schemes and serving over 2 billion consumer accounts — is evolving into the world's largest agentic payment network for mobile commerce.During Phase I in 2026, AMP partners up with 10 leading Alipay+ digital wallets that together serve 1.5 billion user accounts, as well as 7 leading acquiring partners including Adyen, Allinpay, Checkout.com, Fiserv, Global Payments, Nuvei, and Worldline.Ant International, Mastercard, and Visa have begun collaboration on a Know-Your-Agent (KYA) interoperability framework, designed to help card networks, digital wallet ecosystems, agent platforms and marketplaces streamline agent onboarding and identification across networks, based on shared principles while preserving each network's own verification and decisioning processes. As Ant International builds out its Agentic Mobile Protocol (AMP) with deeper interoperability and open-sourc

Peter Rauch Named President of Mountain Hardwear11.9.2026 01:00:00 CEST | Press release

Columbia Sportswear Company (Nasdaq: COLM), a leading innovator in active outdoor apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment, today announced that Peter Rauch will be the new President of the Mountain Hardwear brand. Mountain Hardwear's mission is to encourage and equip people to seek wilder paths. With over 30 years of wild wisdom, Mountain Hardwear continues to offer premium technical apparel, accessories and equipment products for climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, and trail athletes. Troy Sicotte will transition to a new role as Global Vice President, Sales for Mountain Hardwear. Mr. Rauch transitions from his current role as General Manager of Columbia Brand North America and brings nearly 20 years of leadership experience across the Columbia family of brands, deep industry knowledge and a genuine passion for the outdoors. "Throughout his career, Peter has built strong cross-functional partnerships, developed high-performing teams, and delivered meaningful business re

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye