PLAYTECH shares plunged nearly 20 per cent yesterday after a Hong Kong-based investor pulled out of takeover talks because of "challenging underlying market conditions".

TTB expressed interest in making an allcash offer for Playtech back in February after shareholders rejected a £2.1bn offer from gaming giant Aristocrat Leisure. It said it would make an offer above Aristocrat's 680p-a-share offer.

The gaming software firm gave TTB an extended 'put up or shut up' deadline, which gave it until 15 July to make an enhanced offer or walk away. Playtech's second largest shareholder is Gopher Investments, which TTB is notably an affiliate of.

The Hong Kong consortium confirmed yesterday that it would not be making an enhanced offer, but Playtech said that the firm "continues to be supportive of the board and the executive management team, their strategy for Playtech and the prospects for the business".

Commenting on the news, Steve Clayton, fund manager at Hargreaves Lans- down Select said: "This is the latest chapter in a convoluted struggle for control of the group, which so far has attracted interest from multiple parties, but all have either been unable to persuade shareholders to back them, or have lost interest in the group along the way".

In a joint statement, Mor Weizer, current CEO of Playtech, and Tom Hall, a former chief and currently an investor in Playtech, said while it was disappointing that a formal offer was not made by TTB, "challenging global economic and market conditions which were not present in February made it impossible to create the right structure for a new company".

The pair added that Playtech continues to be "significantly undervalued" on the UK stock market. Playtech said it expected adjusted ebitda to be more than €200m (£169.7m), driven by both the B2B and B2C businesses.

"The excellent first half results and momentum in the business gives the board great confidence in the company's prospects for 2022 and beyond, and the company's ability to deliver material value to its shareholders", Playtech said in an update yesterday.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper