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

EVE Energy Showcases All-Scenario Energy Storage Solutions at The Smarter E Europe 20261.7.2026 03:45:00 CEST | Press release

EVE Energy unveiled its Mr. Big Family series, a 6.9+ MWh energy storage system, and all-scenario energy storage solutions at Intersolar Europe in Munich. Drawing on traceable large-cell technology, proven large-scale energy storage project delivery experience, and global delivery capabilities, the company is addressing Europe's diverse energy storage requirements across utility-scale, commercial & industrial (C&I ), and data center segments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260630889717/en/ EVE Energy showcases its Mr. Giant 3.0 6.9+ MWh energy storage system at The Smarter E Europe 2026 in Munich, Germany Advancing Large-Cell Technology with Global Project Validation As one of the first companies to focus on large-capacity energy storage cells, EVE Energy has iteratively upgraded its cell platform from 560 Ah and 628 Ah to 702 Ah, adhering to a stacking process route throughout. At the exhibition, the Mr. Gia

Bending Spoons S.p.A. announces pricing of initial public offering1.7.2026 01:56:00 CEST | Press release

Bending Spoons S.p.A. (“Bending Spoons”), a leading technology company, today announces the pricing of its initial public offering (“IPO”) at $29.00 per share. A total of 57,971,015 ordinary shares are being offered, of which 34,398,640 shares are being offered by Bending Spoons and 23,572,375 shares are being offered by certain selling shareholders (the “Selling Shareholders”). Bending Spoons will not receive any proceeds from any sale of shares by the Selling Shareholders. The shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “BSP” on July 1, 2026. The offering is expected to close on July 2, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, Bending Spoons and the Selling Shareholders granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 5,244,026 ordinary shares from Bending Spoons and up to an additional 3,451,626 ordinary shares from the Selling Shareholders at the initial public offering price, less underwriting

FDA Issues Modified Risk Tobacco Product Orders for 20 ZYN Nicotine Pouch Products30.6.2026 18:19:00 CEST | Press release

FDA’s decision makes ZYN the first nicotine pouch product to receive MRTP orders authorizing reduced-risk claims versus cigarettes Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) orders for 20 variants of ZYN nicotine pouch products. These are the first MRTP orders granted for nicotine pouches, allowing PMI U.S. to market the following claim for the authorized ZYN products: “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.” “FDA’s decision is an important moment for the more than 45 million legal-age nicotine consumers in America,” saidStacey Kennedy, PMI U.S. CEO. “Today’s news ensures these adultshave access to accurate, science-based information, including FDA-authorized evidence that switching from cigarettes to ZYN reduces the risk of smoking-related diseases like heart disease

Caidya Announces Strategic Combination with Simbec-Orion Bridging Early Scientific Insight and Global Clinical Execution30.6.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release

Caidya today announced a strategic combination with Simbec-Orion designed to close the divide between early scientific insight and global clinical execution. The combination of Caidya and Simbec-Orion creates a differentiated specialty clinical CRO platform that enables programs to scale, maintaining focus, speed, and accountability. The strategic combination brings together complementary strengths to create a more complete development partner for innovative biopharma companies. With established operations across Europe, the Americas, APAC, and China, the combined organization provides meaningful expertise and execution capabilities in the regions that matter most. Simbec-Orion brings early-phase clinical pharmacology capabilities alongside deep therapeutic expertise for later stage complex oncology and rare disease trials, helping sponsors shape critical decisions early in the development lifecycle. Together, the organizations strengthen their ability to support complex, cross-border

Archer® Proves Purpose-Built AI Beats General-Purpose LLMs on Regulatory Change Management: 95% Verified Accuracy, 80x Faster, 92% Lower Cost30.6.2026 16:13:00 CEST | Press release

In a head-to-head benchmark, a leading general-purpose LLM was confidently wrong 35% of the time on regulatory dates. Archer Evolv™ shipped zero errors. For enterprises deploying AI in compliance, a wrong date is a missed deadline. The more dangerous failure is a wrong answer the model returns with high confidence, one that flows silently into a compliance calendar and is only discovered after the window has passed. Archer® today released results showing purpose-built AI beats a general-purpose large language model (LLM) on regulatory work, and it’s not close. This head-to-head test compared Archer’s purpose-built, vertical-specific AI and proprietary data sets against a leading general-purpose LLM, on a core compliance task: determining the publication, effective and comment-close dates of regulatory documents across six jurisdictions. General-purpose models are a genuine breakthrough, and this is no referendum on their quality. The question Archer set out to answer is narrower and mo

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