Joffre Capital Acquires $2.2bn Minority Stake in Playtika Holding

Playtika Holding confirmed rumors overnight that Joffre Capital will purchase 106m shares of the mobile gaming company currently held by the company’s largest shareholder, Playtika Holding UK II Limited for $21 per share.

The deal represents 25.7% of the shares outstanding and was valued at over $2.2bn.

Joffre Capital is a private equity fund that specializes in the tech sector, with a presence across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. It was founded by a group of entrepreneurs and executives in the technology and finance industries, who previously held senior positions at Amazon, Baidu, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, and Yahoo/Verizon.

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Stifel analyst Drew Crum highlights that the news follows the late-February announcement that the company was exploring strategic alternatives, along with the late-January press release indicating that Playtika Holding UK II was considering the sale of what equated to 15%-25% of the total shares for Playtika, “and thus this news would seem to bring some closure to the process.”

Additionally, Crum believes this transaction would eliminate Playtika’s status as a “controlled company”, a positive, in his opinion. Further, he notes the $21/share proposed valuation represents a premium of 50%+ versus Playtika’s current price.

The analyst has a Buy rating and $20 price target on Playtika.

Shares of Playtika fell 8% despite the news to $13.19.

Source: Investing.com

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