Playtech, the international designer, developer and licensor of software for the gambling industry, is pleased to announce that dealings in its ordinary shares are due to commence trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc at 8.00 am today.
Key highlights
• The placing has raised approximately £265.2 million gross through a placing of 103,142,466 ordinary shares (the “Placing Shares”) at 257 pence per ordinary share. The Company has raised net proceeds of approximately £31.8 million. The ordinary shares, subject to the placing, represent approximately 48 per cent. of Playtech’s total issued ordinary shares.
• The shares will trade under the ticker symbol PTEC.L.
• Collins Stewart acted as sole bookrunner, nominated advisor and joint broker. Seymour Pierce acted as joint broker.
• The placing values Playtech at approximately £548 million, reflecting the total number of ordinary shares in issue of 213,333,333.
• The Placing Shares have been placed with a broad range of international institutional investors.
• In the two year period ended 31 December 2005, Playtech recorded a 268 per cent. increase in revenues to US$47.6m. In the same period, post tax profit increased from approximately US$8.3m in 2003 to US$35.6m in 2005.
Roger Withers, who has over 30 years of experience in the leisure and gaming industries, has been appointed non-Executive Chairman with effect from Admission.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Avigur Zmora, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, said:
“The outstanding interest in Playtech’s shares from both US and UK investors is a clear endorsement of the company’s offering, business model and prospects. We look forward to life as a plc and to continuing the growth of the business.”
About Playtech
Playtech develops unified software platforms for the online gambling industry, primarily targeting existing online operators wanting to upgrade their system; sportsbooks looking to diversify and land-based operators making their online debut. Playtech gaming applications — online casino, poker, bingo, live gaming, land-based kiosk networks and fixed-odds games — are fully intercompatible and can be freely incorporated as stand-alone applications, accessed and funded by players through the same user account and managed by the operator by means of a single powerful management interface. Founded in 1999, Playtech has over 250 personnel distributed globally, around eighty percent of whom are engaged in research and development of current and future gaming technologies.
www.playtech.com
