The biggest shareholder and founder of Playtech, Teddy Sagi is selling a big block of his holdings in the company, the firm announced in a filing with the London Stock Exchange . The company made rounds just before the Finance Magnates London Summit as it announced the acquisition of one of the biggest institutional players in the foreign exchange trading industry, CFH Clearing.
The company that Teddy Sagi wholly owns, Brickington Trading Limited, is proposing a sale of 32.3 million ordinary shares of Playtech. The offload is to be brokered by UBS, Canaccord Genuity and Credit Suisse via an accelerated bookbuild.
The number represents 10 per cent of the company’s float with Teddy Sagi’s company currently holding about 33.6 per cent of the voting rights of Playtech. After the offload, Brickington Trading has agreed to impose a period of 180 days, during which it won’t be able to sell more shares.
The move is said to be undertaken by Teddy Sagi in order to diversify his investment portfolio. After the placement, the Israeli billionaire will continue to be the single largest shareholder of the company with about 23.6 percent.
The move is also likely to free up additional Liquidity for trading of Playtech’s shares as it will substantially increase the free float of the company’s ordinary shares.
Teddy Sagi has also agreed that the rights afforded to Playtech in its relationship agreement will be waived if the holdings of Brickington (together with its associates) falls below the 15 per cent threshold. If the holdings of the Israeli billionaire’s company after the placement fall below 30 per cent, the largest shareholder of the firm will no longer have the right to appoint two non-executive directors to the board.
