LONDON: Online gaming company Playtech Plc has agreed to pay 459.6 million pounds ($703 million) for Plus500 Ltd., a U.K. trading platform whose anti-money-laundering safeguards have come under scrutiny by regulators.
Playtech said in a statement Monday it would pay 400 pence per share for Plus500, whose systems allow retail customers to trade contracts for difference internationally. Playtech is expanding beyond gaming and recently acquired another online trading platform, TradeFX Ltd. Plus500 rose 5.7 percent to 391.25 pence at 8:05 a.m. in London.
Plus500, based in Israel and listed in London, said in May that the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority had required a review of its anti-money-laundering financial sanction systems and other related regulatory controls. As a result, it said it had ceased “on-boarding” new customers and froze some accounts.
Mor Weizer, chief executive officer of Playtech, said the purchase would “prove transformational for our ambitions to expand Playtech’s wider offering” and allow his company “to apply our market-leading products and services to the enlarged financial trading business.”
Odey Asset Management, founded by the veteran hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, owns 19.6 percent of Plus500. It has increased its stake even as short-sellers have targeted the company after the disclosure of the regulatory review.
