Sisal cancels Italian IPO plans
Milan-based operator blames unfavourable economic conditions as the main reason for floatation turnaround
Italian egaming operator Sisal has terminated plans to list the company on the country’s stock exchange just two weeks after first revealing its intentions.
The decision to cancel the initial public offering (IPO), which was made last week, was attributed to poor economic conditions and unfavourable domestic and international stock markets.
Sisal had planned to offer up to 77.5 million shares in an IPO in collaboration with financial advisers Deutsche Bank and UBS at a price between 6.30 and 7.70 a share.
According to previous statements by the company, the expected IPO would have amounted to nearly 60% of Sisal’s capital valuing the operator at between 645m-790m.
The Milan-based company, which ranked 25th in last year’s eGaming Review Power 50, recorded revenues of 772m in 2013 and has an approximate 10% share of Italy’s online sports betting market.
According to ï¬gures published by Italian regulator AAMS, Sisal also holds a 9% online bingo market share and around 4% in a poker market dominated by PokerStars.