Top Evolution Gaming shareholder offloads stake in $616m sell-off

Evolution Gaming’s top shareholder has cashed out more than $600m in the company after the live casino provider’s stock skyrocketed during the coronavirus crisis.

British property investor Richard Livingstone, one of two brothers worth an estimated $3.7bn, sold more than 8.5 million shares in the casino giant on Tuesday at a price of SEK650 (£57) a share, to net a cool $616m (£486m).

Livingstone, who currently owns a 16.4% stake in the business, sold the shares at a discount of 6.5% of the closing price, via international financial brokers Morgan Stanley.

The deal represents more than 4.7% of Evolution Gaming’s share capital and is the biggest trade in the business since the firm made a £1.6bn bid to take over NetEnt in June.

The reason for the sale has not been disclosed, however Evolution Gaming’s stock price has more than doubled since the coronavirus lockdown following the accelerated shift in gamblers towards the online casino market.

In the wake of the NetEnt deal, Evolution Gaming’s share price dipped by 10% due to mergers and arbitration brokerage firms attempting to make money on the spread.

A generally accepted investment technique, this involves shorting stock in the acquiring firm and longing stock in the acquired firm in order to make extra money by betting on the completion of the merger.

The same occurred before Flutter Entertainment’s takeover of The Stars Group in May.

However, Evolution Gaming’s stock has since rallied with shares opening today at a price of SEK634.20.

In its Q2 financial results, Evolution Gaming reported a 50% year-on-year rise in operating revenue to €128.3m (£116.4m) for Q2 2020.

Profits during the period more than doubled, rising to €70.4m (£63.9m) from €34.5m in Q2 2019.