A report in today’s Daily Mail, the UK newspaper, suggests that the takeover of Playtech could be derailed by Asian investors buying up shares in the company.

KL

The gambling software business has approved a 680p per share offer from Aristocrat in October that values Playtech at £2.1bn. The newspaper says that investors from China and Hong Kong are snapping up shares in Playtech.

These investors include Karen Lo, the billionaire heiress, Paul Suen, who owns an English Championship football team, professional poker player Stanley Choi, the gaming tycoon Tang Hao and TTB Partners, the Hong Kong investment company.

Speculation suggests that they are all part of a group that potentially already owns 20 per cent of the company’s shares, possibly enough to block the takeover by Aristocrat.

Both Playtech and Aristocrat have approached the UK’s Takeover Panel to try to establish if those shareholders are acting together. If so, the Panel could rule that the group must make an offer of its own.