Australian slot machine giant Aristocrat Leisure Ltd says it has now raised a combined AU$1.3 billion (US$965 million) towards its proposed acquisition of online gaming platform Playtech plc after completing a retail entitlement offer.
Three weeks after an institutional entitlement offer raised AU$895 million (US$673 million), the retail component added an additional AU$405 million (US$304 million) via the issue of 9.7 million new Aristocrat shares at AU$41.85 per share.
Aristocrat revealed on 18 October 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.
The company has also vowed to push ahead with its acquisition plans despite Playtech this week receiving a rival bid from Gopher Investments, its second largest shareholder with a 4.97% stake.
