Playtech unconcerned by Plus500 hold-up
Supplier giant still waiting for the UK Financial Conduct Authority to give the £460m deal the green light
Playtech’s acquisition of CFD trading company Plus500 has suffered a minor setback after the supplier giant confirmed receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals was taking longer than expected.
The acquisition, first announced back in June, has been approved by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, with the hold-up believed to be with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In a statement released after the markets closed on Friday, Playtech said it was “not aware of any issues” that would prevent the £460m deal being given the green light and added the “high profile nature” of the acquisition meant authorities were taking longer than it had originally anticipated.
Playtech said it expected the regulatory assessment of the transaction would now be signed-off by the end of November, but still remained hopeful of an October completion date.
Cenkos Securities analyst Simon French said the delay was “nothing to be concerned about” and the FCA was “working to its own timelines” with the necessary approvals expected in the coming weeks.
The deal to acquire Plus500 has been far from easy, with the FCA having previously frozen 13,499 of the firm’s accounts prior to Playtech making an offer for the firm following an earlier review of Plus500’s AML checks.
However, at the back end of summer Playtech issued an update and said that having re-verified all of its customers the FCA had released the accounts and it was “business as usual.”
Playtech CEO Mor Weizer described the Plus500 acquisition as “transformational” and said he expected it to be immediately earnings enhancing.
The firm also provided an update on its acquisition of Ava Trade and said it was still on schedule to complete the deal by the end of this month or early next, in line with its original timetable.