US regulators approve Sportech's SGR acquisition
Sportech has secured approvals from US regulators in Connecticut and Maine to acquire Scientific Games Racing from Scientific Games Corporation, but the date for completion is to be extended.
Footballpools.com owner Sportech has secured the required approvals from US regulators in Connecticut and Maine to acquire Scientific Games Racing (SGR) from Scientific Games Corporation (SGC) for an estimated US$83m.
Final completion of the acquisition, however, will take place “in the near future”, it told the stock exchange in a statement this morning. It said that it would update the market “in due course” but that Sportech and SGC had agreed to extend the date by which completion of the acquisition must have take place by 22 October this year.
Sportech said the only outstanding regulatory approval required for the completion of the proposed acquisition was a ruling from the New Jersey Racing Commission. It added that it expects the Racing Commission to rule towards the end of September or early October 2010.
In late August this year Ian Penrose, Sportech CEO, told eGaming Review that the deal was “close” but that the regulatory process had “taken longer than expected” and had been both “extensive and expensive”.
The company added that its regulatory application process in the Netherlands was also complete and that it is expected that the required license in the Netherlands would be granted “upon completion of the proposed acquisition”.
eGaming Review reported Sportech’s plans to acquire SGR in January this year.
The deal would significantly strengthen its pari-mutuel betting, and allow the British company access to SGR’s client base in North America, central and South America, as well as Denmark, Germany, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands and Turkey.
Completion of the acquisitionwill give Scientific Games a 19.9% stake in Sportech, while Playtech, Sportech’s egaming partners, will see its share drop from 12.5% to 9.9%. In January Playtech bought a £10m stake in Sportech. The deal formed part of £29.2m capital raised by Sportech to fund its acquisition of Scientific Games Racing.
Sportech’s adjusted profit before tax for the six months ended June this year was £5.8m, a loss of £1.1m compared to £6.9m for the same period in 2009. Penrose added that the SGR deal would enable Sportech to develop into an “international sport and gaming business with significant opportunities for profitable growth”.