Evolution’s largest shareholder, Candle Lake, US billionaire Kenneth Dart’s investment vehicle, has taken its holding in the live casino and slots supplier above 30%, meaning under Swedish rules it must make mandatory offer for the remaining shares or sell down its position within the next month.
In a press release on 24 July, Candle Lake announced the purchase of 2.05 million shares in Evolution, taking its total to just under 59.8 million, corresponding to 30.02% in shares and votes in the Stockholm-listed firm.
The statement read: “Through the acquisition, the mandatory offer threshold is passed, entailing that Candle Lake is required to launch a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in Evolution within four weeks from the acquisition, or to sell such number of shares that Candle Lake’s shareholding represents less than three tenths of the voting rights for all shares in Evolution.”
The investment firm did not expand on the statement and there has been no indication on whether a takeover bid – which would take it private – will be imminent.
Evolution, which did not comment on the Candle Lake transaction when contacted by EGR, bought back 1,023,577 of its own shares between 20 July and 24 July.
At the time of writing, Evolution’s shares are up 4.4% on the day to SEK726 (£55.88).
However, the share price has fallen by more than 17% the past 12 months amid a turbulent period for the group.
Evolution agreed to pay a £4.75m settlement earlier this month after a Gambling Commission investigation found the supplier’s games were available on six unlicensed sites.
It also remains locked in a legal dispute with Playtech over claims the latter engaged in a “smear campaign” around alleged black market activity. Playtech had hired intelligence firm Black Cube to investigate Evolution’s activities.
Following the release of its Q2 financials midway through the month, where it announced net revenue fell 1.2% year on year, Evolution revealed the termination of its protracted acquisition of Galaxy Gaming.
In May, Cayman Islands-based Dart also increased his stake in Flutter Entertainment through Candle Lake, from 25% to 27.6%.
Outside of Flutter and Evolution, billionaire Dart is an investor in tobacco companies British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands.
Founded in Sweden, Evolution is 20 years old this year. The company went public in 2015 by floating on the Nasdaq First Premier North exchange in Stockholm.
The post Evolution’s largest shareholder triggers mandatory takeover bid after passing 30% threshold first appeared on EGR Intel.
US billionaire Kenneth Dart’s investment vehicle Candle Lake must launch an offer or cut its stake within four weeks after buying over two million shares in the Stockholm-listed live casino giant
The post Evolution’s largest shareholder triggers mandatory takeover bid after passing 30% threshold first appeared on EGR Intel.