Playtech has opted to withdraw from its proposed acquisition of online trading platform Ava Trade due to ongoing opposition from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
In May, the Reuters news agency reported that Playtech had agreed a deal to acquire Ava Trade, exercising an option held prior to the purchase of TradeFX earlier in the month.
Playtech in July confirmed that its TradeFX subsidiary had agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Ava Trade, with the company also agreeing a €200 million ($218.4 million) unsecured revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland to support the move.
However, doubts were raised over the acquisition after Playtech in October said that it had received opposition to the deal from the CBI.
The company then said it would appeal the opposition, a move that triggered a termination right for the sellers of Ava Trade, which they opted to enact in November.
Playtech has now confirmed the appeal process, approved by the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal, has concluded, stating that it succeeded and was in turn returned to the CBI for reconsideration and a new decision.
However, despite the application being referred back to the CBI, Playtech has opted to pull out of the deal, citing the November decision by sellers to terminate the proposed acquisition.
Confirmation of the move comes after Playtech also withdrew from its proposed acquisition of Plus500.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
