Odey Asset Management, the biggest shareholder of trading firm Plus500, which is the subject of a £460m takeover bid from gaming software giant Playtech, has called the bid “an opportunistic bid exploiting current regulatory issues and risks.”
The asset management firm, headed by Crispin Odey, holds 25 per cent of Plus500 shares and said it plans to reject the offer. Meanwhile, Plus500’s management – which owns 35 per cent of the company’s stock - has already backed the acquisition.
Odey Asset Management bought into Plus500 prior to the trading firm’s recent woes. If the Playtech deal goes through at what Odey considers to be a knock-down price, the investment house faces significant losses.
Odey said: "We understand that this cash acquisition may make sense for Plus500's management and staff, whom we expect could be further incentivised by Playtech after the acquisition has completed.
“However, for independent shareholders we believe the current offer represents too great a discount compared to intrinsic valuation as a standalone entity."
A spokesman for Playtech told Business Insider: “We believe Odey Asset Management’s arguments to be weak and not categorical.
“Our 400p per share offer remains compelling for Plus 500 shareholders as it offers a clean cash exit at a significant premium to both the initial issue price and prevailing market value prior to our proposed offer.”
Source: Business Insider
