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

Netmore Named Smart Company of the Year at the Premios iAgua 20261.10.2026 19:00:00 CEST | Press release

Netmore recognized for commitment to Spanish water market backed by locally developed products, proven smart metering expertise, and deep local market knowledge Netmore Group, the leading network operator and platform provider for Massive IoT, today announced it has been named Empresa Smart del Año — Smart Company of the Year — at the Premios iAgua 2026, the awards of iAgua, the Spanish-speaking water sector's leading media platform. The award was presented at the closing gala of the Spain Smart Water Summit, held at the Meliá Avenida América in Madrid. The award recognises a company that has taken an unusual route into water. Netmore is not a technology firm that added connectivity to its portfolio: it is a network operator that decided to specialise in the water cycle. In eighteen months, it has completed four acquisitions and become the world's largest LoRaWAN® network operator, with more than eighteen million IoT devices under contract across more than fifty countries. Its commitme

Elliptic Sets the Engineering Bar for On-Chain Risk With “Built for Compliance” Paper as New Rules Take Hold and Banks Launch a Joint Stablecoin1.10.2026 15:40:00 CEST | Press release

Built for compliance arrives as crypto compliance rules tighten worldwide and a bank-led stablecoin enters the market Elliptic, the global leader in on-chain risk management, today published Built for compliance, a paper setting out the nine engineering decisions that determine whether an on-chain risk system can support fast, accurate and defensible compliance decisions at agentic scale. Machines are already moving money on their own, at machine speed. Compliance teams now have to make hundreds of thousands of decisions a day, at that same speed. However, many on-chain risk systems were never engineered to support that pace. A compliance system that computes exposure on a schedule delivers stale results. One that defines blockchain coverage loosely enough lets a screening miss exposure entirely. A system that skips testing disaster recovery, a spike or an outage, takes down the customer’s compliance system too. That gap between machine speed and system design is exactly what regulator

Impartner Releases AI Ecosystem Playbook to Help Organizations Move from AI Experimentation to Execution1.10.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

The AI Ecosystem Playbook provides a practical framework for assessing AI readiness, identifying high-value opportunities, addressing foundational gaps, and building a roadmap for AI adoption. Impartner, the world’s leading partner revenue orchestration platform, today announced the release of its AI Ecosystem Playbook, a new resource designed to help leaders and teams assess their current AI capabilities, identify areas where AI can support business goals, and develop a practical path to implementation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261001661549/en/ Impartner’s AI Ecosystem Playbook helps organizations assess AI readiness and identify opportunities to apply AI across PRM 3.0, partner revenue orchestration, and the partner lifecycle. As AI moves from experimentation into everyday operations, companies need more than a collection of potential applications. They need a framework for understanding where they ar

Whiteford Adds Six Partners in New York City, Expanding its Litigation, International and Corporate Practices1.10.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Lateral group joins growing Midtown Manhattan office as firm pursues targeted expansion strategy Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, a full-service law firm with offices across the East Coast, today announced that six partners from Chambers-rated Lazare Potter Glazer & Moyle LLP have joined Whiteford’s New York office: David E. Potter, James F. Moyle, Johannes K. Gäbel, Jaipat Singh Jain, Anna Pia D. Felix and Jacob Englander. This team expands Whiteford's New York office to more than two dozen attorneys and deepens the firm's commercial and securities litigation, employment, cross-border and corporate capabilities in the New York market. The six partners bring decades of combined experience representing mid-market companies, investment advisers, hedge funds, foreign corporations, entrepreneurs and executives in litigation, regulatory investigations, and complex business transactions. "We are expanding with our clients, our markets and our reputation," said Martin Fletcher, Whiteford's Managi

Skechers Enters Super Shoe Era With Innovative Skechers AERO Elite1.10.2026 14:20:00 CEST | Press release

Groundbreaking Design Gives Elite Runners the Performance to Break Barriers and Records in Any Race Skechers is redefining what it means to run fast with the Skechers AERO Elite. The latest addition to the innovative Skechers AERO Series makes its global racing debut today—marking a landmark moment as the performance brand’s first super shoe. Engineered to perform from 5Ks to marathons, the design minimizes weight and maximizes responsiveness, all while delivering Skechers’ signature comfort. The AERO Elite is built to win with the performance runners at any level need to go further, faster, and achieve that next personal record. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261001865320/en/ Introducing the Skechers AERO Elite, the brand’s first super shoe designed for racing. “The Skechers AERO Elite is the culmination of years of elite-level running innovation—our most technically advanced running shoe to date and a direc

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