Online gaming software giant Playtech is moving forward with plans to de-list its shares from the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Starting July 2, the company’s shares will be listed, and traded on the premium section of the Officical List of the UK Listing Authority (commonly known as the Official List).
Playtech expects to publish a new prospectus by June 28. The announcement has been long anticipated, but was only officially announced last week on the Investors section of the company website. In a brief posting, company officials stated:
The Company believes that the Official List is the most appropriate platform for the continued growth of the Group by increasing Playtech’s profile, assisting in the liquidity of the Company’s shares and providing a greater range of potential investors for the company.
Interested in learning about some of Playtech’s other deals? Check out Playtech Gets Ready for Nevada License.
Other Deals
As part of their preparations for the move off the AIM, which is a loosely regulated exchange that’s roughly similar to the NASDAQ, Playtech signed a major software licensing agreement with Teddy Sagi who holds 48% of the company’s stocks.
Under the terms of the deal Playtech will be paying around $7.5 million (USD) a year for rights to Sagi’s Skywind social gaming platform. They’ll also be paying around around $1.1 million (USD) to rent office space from him in London.
The licensing deal is, apparently, an alternative to Playtech’s original proposal to buy out Sagi for $119.5 (USD) and purchase his London office space for $16 million (USD). Potential investors made it clear that that deal was a little too risky at this time.
Details of the arrangement were the subject of a recent column by Alastair Osborne in the UK newspaper, The Telegraph. According to Osborne, investors still aren’t all that certain what the deal with Sagi really entails. What is known is that Sagi will receive around 20% of revenues from the social gaming deal.
While some investors are scratching their heads over Sagi’s involvement in Playtech, it hasn’t stopped them from recommending a buy on Playtech shares.
Keep watching CAP for more coverage of Playtech’s move the London Stock Exchange.
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