Flutter in talks to buy Playtech's Italian unit - report

(Sharecast News) - Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment is reportedly in talks to buy the consumer arm of London-listed Playtech in a deal that could be worth about £2bn. According to Sky News, Flutter is in discussions to buy Snaitech, one of Italy's biggest gambling companies.

Sky said it was unclear on Wednesday how advanced the talks were, but one source suggested that they were sufficiently detailed that Playtech would be required to publicly confirm them.

A formal agreement is unlikely to be reached until at least next month.

If completed, a deal would value Snaitech at a premium to the current market capitalisation of Playtech, which also has a sizeable business-to-business gambling technology operation.

Snaitech, which trades under the brand Snai, saw revenues grow by 5% to €946.6m in the last financial year, and maintained its market-leading position across Italian sports betting brands.

A sale of the business to Flutter would leave Playtech as a pure-play B2B company which itself would be likely to attract interest from potential bidders, Sky said.

In results late on Tuesday, Flutter said it was lifting full-year guidance after a better-than-expected second-quarter performance.

The company now expects US revenue of between $6.05bn and $6.35bn and adjusted EBITDA of $680m to $800m. This is up from previous guidance of $5.8bn to $6.2bn revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $635m to $785m.

Revenue outside the US is expected to be between $7.85bn and $8.15bn, while adjusted EBITDA is set to be $1.69bn to $1.85bn. This is up from previous guidance of $7.65bn to $8.05bn and $1.63bn to $1.83bn, respectively.