Australian slot machine giant Aristocrat Leisure Ltd says it has raised AU$895 million (US$673 million) to help finance its proposed acquisition of online gaming platform Playtech plc following successful completion of an institutional entitlement offer.
The institutional entitlement offer represents the first of two offers planned, with a retail entitlement offer opening next week expected to raise an additional AU$405 million (US$304 million).
Aristocrat revealed on Monday that it had launched an AU$3.9 billion (US$2.9 billion) bid to acquire Playtech, to be funded by way of AU$1.1 billion (US$816 million) in existing cash, a US$2.05 billion term loan and AU$1.3 billion (US$965 million) in equity raising.
According to its latest ASX filing, the institutional entitlement offer saw a take-up rate of 92% and cleared at a price of AU$47.10 per share, representing a premium of AU$5.25 on the offer price of AU$41.85 per share.
“We are delighted with the strong level of support for the entitlement offer we have received from our institutional investors,” said Aristocrat CEO and Managing Director, Trevor Croker.
“The acquisition continues Aristocrat’s approach of investing in medium to long-term growth and we are extremely excited by the opportunities that this will bring for our shareholders, customers and players.”
