The Playtech online gambling group has notified the London Stock Exchange (LSE), that Teddy Sagi, Israeli billionaire, its founder and controlling shareholder, intends selling almost one third of his shares in the company.
Sagi’s Brickington Trading Limited is due to sell 32.3 million Playtech shares, comprising approximately 10% of the company, which currently has a market cap of £2.94 billion. It is expected that Sagi will receive about £294 million for the shares with his stake in Playtech falling from 33.6% to 23.6%.
By going below 30%, Sagi will be deprived of his right to appoint two non-exec directors to Playtech’s board. However, this will not alter Brickington’s special relationship with the gambling group.
The Brickington placing will be effected through an accelerated book build with underwriters led by global investment bank UBS together with Credit Suisse and Canaccord Genuity. These organizations will try to negotiate the best deal for Sagi’s shares which could result in the final result differing from that of the current share price.
According to an announcement issued by Playtech, the placing shares represent about 10% of the company’s issued share capital and that after the sale of the shares, Brickington has agreed not to dispose of any further Playtech shares for at least 180 days.
Playtech’s announcement also revealed that Brickington is a wholly owned subsidiary of a trust of which Playtech’s founder, Teddy Sagi, is the ultimate beneficiary and the Placing is being undertaken to further diversify its investment portfolio.
The announcement went on to say that Brickington and Sagi will both remain highly committed to the company and Brickington will continue to be Playtech’s largest single shareholder with a 23.6% holding if all the Placing Shares are sold.