Playtech to Vote on Financial Betting Deal

Playtech is looking at expanding its offering of financial betting products, as its shareholders are poised to vote on a merger deal between Playtech PLC and Forex/CFD broker Plus500 Ltd on August 19^th. 

The Vote

The deal under consideration is the proposed £459.6 million acquisition of the retail Forex and CFD broker that was approved by Plus500 shareholders in a vote on July 16, 2015. A proxy vote on the proposed acquisition had 60 million Plus500 shareholders voting in favor versus only 5 million voting against.

Playtech's General Meeting will host Playtech shareholders at The Sefton Hotel on the Isle of Man. This marks a serious foray in the newly prominent betting category of financial betting.

The Deal

The terms of the Plus500 acquisition proposal were unveiled on June 1, 2015: Playtech subsidiary Plus500 would acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Plus500.

The deal would entitle all Plus500 shareholders to 400 pence per Plus500 share in cash, for a total value of approximately £459.6 million.

The deal is expected to complete by the end of September 2015, pending regulatory approval.

It marks a serious move of a financial broker into the retail online betting market.

Financial Betting

Financial betting is an increasingly popular form of betting: unlike stock investments, financial betting represents direct bets based and placed on specific outcomes of potential deals or performance. Sites such as bet365 Financials and Winner Option offer financial betting and options.

This kind of financial betting marks the diversification of online betting from games and sports into other areas of interest and publicly visible performance. Playtech already has a foot and hand so to say in the world of shouting brokers and stocks, as it runs the popular Wall St Fever progressive jackpot, played by many at leading Playtech powered online casinos the likes of 7Regal Casino.