Playtech Responds to Gopher Investments’ Accusation About the Finalto Bid

Playtech has restated its need for further information from Gopher Investments about its bid for Playtech's finance business Finalto, after Gopher claimed to have supplied all of the information requested.

On Monday, Playtech decided to postpone its general meeting, where shareholders were to vote on a proposal already received from a Barinboim Group, which Playtech agreed to accept.

The vote was postponed when Gopher submitted a $250 million Finalto offer in July, competing with Barinboim's bid, so that Playtech could use the extra time to ask additional questions about Gopher's offer.

Nevertheless, Playtech's board ultimately decided to continue to recommend Barinboim's offer, citing a lack of "clarity" in Gopher's proposal.

Gopher responded to initial inquiries, but the Playtech board said it was still waiting for answers to follow-up questions that would allow it to move forward with negotiations.

Gopher's next statement indicated that the company was "very dissatisfied with the Playtech board's decision not to change its recommendation" and that Playtech had misrepresented the sequence of events.

Gopher says it quickly responded to Playtech's initial request for additional financial and regulatory information. Further material was deemed confidential, requiring the signing of a confidentiality agreement, which Gopher says both firms agreed to.

The company went on to say that Playtech planned to issue a circular that would be made public before the confidentiality agreement was in place, forcing a halt to the process. The company went on to say that it did not expect Playtech to say that it had received insufficient information or that the board would announce its unwavering support for the Barinboim deal.

In response to these allegations, Playtech stated: "Playtech does not acknowledge Gopher's description of the series of events to which it refers in its August 3, 2021 press statement. Playtech would appreciate it if Gopher would be willing to provide the necessary information."

"As previously indicated, Gopher's proposal is unclear in terms of its feasibility because it is non-binding and subject to a number of conditions. As a result, the Board is currently unable to change its recommendations to shareholders regarding the disposition and resolution as set forth in the original circular."