Tatts in talks to buy Greek rival Intralot’s local arm
Tatts Group is in exclusive talks to buy Greek gaming giant Intralot’s Australian arm, once its Victorian rival.
Tatts Group (TTS) is in exclusive talks to buy Greek gaming giant Intralot’s Australian arm, which was once its Victorian rival.
After DataRoom revealed the deal talks, Tatts yesterday confirmed to the market that it had been in discussions with the target for some time to “potentially acquire” its Australian and New Zealand businesses.
“These discussions have advanced to a confirmatory due-diligence stage and Intralot has agreed to conduct this process on an exclusive basis with Tatts,” Tatts said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “In the event of any material developments Tatts will make a further announcement as required by its continuous disclosure obligations.”
Shares in Tatts slumped on the news, closing the day 3.4 per cent lower at $3.98.
The potential acquisition of Intralot’s local businesses follows the recent sale of Tatts’ British slot machine business Talarius. It also comes days after Tatts’ former suitor, Tabcorp, struck a $115 million deal to buy gaming services group Intecq.
Tabcorp and Tatts ended merger discussions late last year after failing to agree on price. The market has consistently suggested a deal between the two could be revisited, though insiders say the latest deals make that less likely.
Intralot provides the electronic monitoring system for all hotel and club gaming machines in Victoria and also provides data and information on gaming machines for regulatory, taxation and research purposes.
The company once operated a keno and scratchies business in Victoria but surrendered its licences in late 2014 under an agreement with the state government and Tatts.
When Intralot entered the Victorian market in 2008, selling instant scratchies, keno and bingo tickets, it ended Tatts’ 50-year monopoly. But it did not prove to be a boon for the Athens-based company, which reported losses on the business and faced complaints from venues about lack of software training and computer systems.
Intralot also launched legal action against the Victorian government, seeking $63m in damages over its failed keno and scratchies business. It claimed the government had misled the company and precluded it as a gaming service provider from operating in a competitive environment. The company also complained that Tatts had impacted its business because of an exclusive deal with agents to put Tatts products in prime positions.
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