Blues owners up stake in gaming firm as concerns grow over mega-deal

Aristocrat, the Australian gaming firm which has agreed a £2.1bn deal to buy industry giant Playtech, has alerted the Takeover Panel after a group of Asian investors hoovered up a large stake of the London-listed comopany.

Those buying up a stake in Playtech include the owners of Birmingham City Football Club, Birmingham Sports Holdings. Aristocrat and Playtech have urged the takeover watchdog to look into the trading over concerns that the Asian shareholders are acting as a “concert party”.

The new investors now own more than 20% of Playtech’s shares with large-scale bookbuilding taking place over rrecent weeks.

Aristocrat is concerned as 75% of Playtech shareholders need to back the mega-deal for it to complete. If the new shareholders reach a 29.9% share, they can launch a bid of their own for Playtech.

Shares in Playtech, which is worth around £2.2bn, were trading on Tuesday at around 745p.more time