Business Wire

FINALTO-S.P.V.-LTD

2.8.2021 19:43:08 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share
The Consortium Welcomes Playtech’s Confirmed Recommendation for Its Binding Agreement to Acquire Finalto and Urges Investors to Vote in Favour at the Playtech Adjourned General Meeting on 18 August 2021

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 by Playtech plc (“Playtech”) confirming its recommendation that shareholders vote in favour of the Consortium’s binding agreement for Finalto Group (“Finalto) (the “Binding Agreement”).

Playtech announced today that following its engagement with Gopher Investments (“Gopher”) over the past three weeks, it has not received responses from Gopher to a number of its questions and therefore Playtech has not yet been able to achieve the necessary clarity on Gopher's ultimate ownership and funding structure, source of funds or ability to obtain the required regulatory clearances .

Shareholders should ask why Gopher continues to hide and should also be suspicious of Gopher’s credibility, particularly given that disclosure is crucial when buying a highly regulated business. Furthermore, the firm associated with Gopher, TT Bond Partners, is a small boutique brokerage that raises money from Chinese investors. Gopher’s behaviour has not been well received by the market; since it first announced its interest, Playtech’s share price has fallen by nearly 17%1 .

The Consortium’s Binding Agreement for Finalto offers considerable value and certainty and puts an end to the arduous 18-month sale process

  • Voting in favour of the Consortium’s Binding Agreement, which has been unanimously supported by Playtech’s board of directors, ensures Playtech receipt of the considerable sale proceeds soon allowing it to focus on its core gambling business. The Binding Agreement was agreed after beating other rival bidders in a lengthy, arduous and transparent sale process that was run by UBS and offers far greater certainty that the transaction will complete and pass the stringent regulatory approvals.
  • The level of volatility and risk that the Finalto business is subject to and the performance headwinds that it faces, led to the ultimate price that was agreed and Playtech recommending the Consortium’s Binding Agreement to acquire Finalto. Indeed, in the original circular to shareholders, Playtech itself comments on Finalto’s tumultuous performance in 2021, underlining the businesses underperformance relative to prior years.
  • If shareholders vote against the Binding Agreement the Consortium will fall apart. Should this happen, shareholders need to reflect on the likelihood that Gopher would follow through on its indicative interest at the level they purport to offer for Finalto.
  • Voting in favour of the Consortium removes the considerable risk, delay and additional costs associated with yet another sale process, which would not be concluded until late 2022 at the earliest. Such a delay would be considerably destabilising to the Finalto business, which has already been subject to a lengthy sale process and significant market speculation.
  • From the outset of the transaction, the Consortium’s Binding Agreement was and remains fully financed by the three blue chip multinationals comprising the Consortium and a reputable senior lender. Completion is subject to Playtech’s shareholders’ approval and final regulatory approvals only, which the Consortium is already six months into and has submitted the required arduous change of control paperwork to each of the regulators in multiple jurisdictions.
  • The Consortium welcomes shareholders and proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis to engage with it in order to answer any questions regarding its Binding Agreement, which it believe provides the best value to Playtech.

The Consortium urges shareholders to follow Playtech’s Board recommendation and vote in favour of its Binding Agreement to acquire Finalto at the General Meeting due to take place on 18 August 2021.

The Original Circular, the Supplementary Circular and the Notice of Adjourned General Meeting are available on Playtech's website at www.investors.playtech.com/shareholder-information/general-meeting.aspx . Shareholders who have already submitted their proxy electronically at www.investorcentre.co.uk/eproxy and wish to change their voting instruction, may do so by submitting a revised Form of Proxy electronically at www.investorcentre.co.uk/eproxy .

The Consortium’s previous announcements are available here (7 July 2021) and here (9 July 2021).

-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.


1 Source: Capital IQ. July 30 close price over July 2 close price

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

Grid Dynamics Earns MACH Alliance's 2026 Agent Ready Award for Production-Scale Agentic AI19.8.2026 22:05:00 CEST | Press release

Key Takeaways: Grid Dynamics is named to MACH Alliance's inaugural 2026 Agent Ready cohort. Grid Dynamics won the award for its agentic AI capabilities and for programs delivered at a global food and beverage company and a global payments company. Grid Dynamics delivered the qualifying work through its Grid Dynamics AI Native (GAIN) platforms and Forward Deployed Engineer delivery model. Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GDYN) (“Grid Dynamics”), a premier AI transformation partner for the Fortune 1000, today announced it has earned MACH Alliance's 2026 Agent Ready Award, becoming one of 35 companies named in the program's inaugural cohort. Agent Ready is an advanced certification that builds upon MACH Certification, the MACH Alliance's baseline standard for open, composable, and connected technology. The honor recognizes certified members that have moved agentic AI from pilots and demos into production, at scale, with the guardrails enterprise deployment requires. Every award is in

Xsolla Announces Multi-Year Strategic Partnership With the Good Game Club Podcast to Amplify Positive Stories From the Global Games Industry19.8.2026 18:10:00 CEST | Press release

Collaboration Brings Co-Created Episodes, Live Recordings At gamescom And GDC, And Stories From Studios, With Episodes Recorded Across the Globe Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, today announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Good Game Club, the independent, global podcast dedicated to sharing positive stories from the gaming ecosystem. The partnership builds on a broader effort to support the developers, publishers, and creators shaping the future of the games industry in a positive way by supporting good stories from the human side of video game businesses. The partnership spans the global events calendar, with joint podcast recordings planned each year at gamescom in Cologne and the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260819127662/en/ Graphic: Xsolla Xsolla and Good Game Club will collaborate on recurring editorial segments and deep-dive ep

KAGA FEI Expands Its Software-Embedded Bluetooth Low Energy Module Lineup with ES4L15MA1 and EC4L15MA119.8.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release

KAGA FEI Co., Ltd., a global provider of advanced short-range wireless modules, announced today the development of the ES4L15MA1 and EC4L15MA1 Bluetooth Low Energy modules with embedded software for wireless communication. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260802953307/en/ ES4L15MA1 (left) and EC4L15MA1 (right) sample modules These products are versions of KAGA FEI’s ES4L15BA1 and EC4L15BA1 wireless modules with embedded software, which use Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF54L15. Because the modules include the functions required for Bluetooth Low Energy communication, device manufacturers can develop products in a shorter period without having to develop wireless communication software from scratch. The modules help reduce software development workloads, shorten product development cycles, and lower development costs for a wide range of IoT devices. The need for wireless connectivity in IoT applications is growing acr

Xsolla Introduces Integrated Backend and Global Payment Solutions for Games, With Founding Partner AccelByte19.8.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Game Developers Can Now Apply For Early Access To The Integrated Solution Ahead Of Launch Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, today introduced integrated backend solutions for game developers through a founding partnership with AccelByte, a fully managed extensible games backend platform, and opened a closed testing program for a combined solution that pairs AccelByte Gaming Services (AGS) with Xsolla's global payments and monetization tools. Select developers can now apply for early access and help shape the integration ahead of its broader launch. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260819624666/en/ Graphic: Xsolla As studios scale live games across PC, mobile, console, and the web, managing player persistence, gaming backend, and global transactions adds cost and slows launches. Through the founding partnership with AccelByte, Xsolla brings AccelByte's backend services together with its own payments a

Corpay Cross-Border Named the Official FX Partner of European T20 Premier League19.8.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release

Providing access to currency risk management and cross-border payments solutions Corpay, Inc.*, (NYSE: CPAY) a global leader in corporate payments, is pleased to announce that Corpay’s Cross-Border business has entered into an agreement with the European T20 Premier League (“ETPL”), a new franchise-based tournament sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, created to establish Europe as a dynamic force in the global T20 landscape. Under the agreement, Corpay becomes EPTL’s exclusive and Official Foreign Exchange (FX) Partner, along with being an Official Partner. As the EPTL’s exclusive foreign exchange partner, Corpay Cross-Border will provide the league with comprehensive FX risk management solutions to help mitigate foreign exchange exposure arising from its day-to-day business activities. Corpay Cross-Border’s award-winning platform will also enable the EPTL to streamline global payments through a single point of access. “Corpay Cross-Border is thrilled to be named the exclu

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