David Baazov, the Amaya Chief Executive Officer, recently announced that the company is likely to receive an offer to buy out the gaming company. Although there has not yet been an official announcement of any such bids, it has been rumoured that Playtech may be part of the joint takeover bid for Amaya. The takeover offer is meant to come from David Baazov and a group of other investors.
Would Playtech Bid on Amaya?
Playtech announced that it was planning to move ahead with some strategic takeovers this year, using acquisitions to grow the company. At this time, Playtech has been working towards acquiring OpenBet, with plans for other acquisitions.
Although Playtech could not put forward a bid to buy out Amaya on its own, the company can join in with Baazov and other partners to bid on Amaya. Playtech has not confirmed or denied that it may be part of the group that has plans to make a bid on Amaya.
Scott Deveau wrote for Bloomberg, noting: “Potential bidders, said to include Playtech Plc, have held discussions to join a takeover bid being planned by Amaya's chief executive officer and chairman David Baazov rather than launching their own, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Deveau also reported recently that Teddy Sagi, Playtech’s owner, has recently entered the Top 500 in Forbes’ list for global millionaires.
It is interesting to see how the tables have turned over the past couple of years. In 2014, Playtech and Amaya bid against each other for bwin.party. Ultimately, GVC Holdings won the bid for bwin.party, however at the beginning of the bidding, both Playtech and Amaya were bidding for the gaming company. At this time, rather than bidding against Amaya, Playtech may be bidding for Amaya.
Playtech Receives Strong Buy Rating
After the Bloomberg report earlier this month noted that Playtech could be one of the Amaya bidders, shares in Playtech have increased in value. Although it was only a predictions, takeover rumours, should they be actualised, would increase Playtech’s already positive financial performance.
UBS, the Swiss global finance company, said that its financial analysts have noted that Playtech is clearly getting ready for a big financial move, and gave the company a ‘strong buy’ rating.
Should Playtech be part of the Baazov takeover group, and should the offer for Amaya be accepted, it will have a positive implication for Playtech.