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n 24 June 2020, Evolution announced a recommended public offer to the shareholders of NetEnt to sell all their shares in NetEnt to Evolution in exchange for 0.1306 Evolution shares for each share in NetEnt. The offer includes both the unlisted shares of series A and shares of series B in NetEnt that are admitted to trading on Nasdaq Stockholm.
The acceptance period has now expired and the Offer has been accepted by shareholders holding 93.9 percent of the total number of shares and 97.3 percent of the total number of votes in NetEnt. All conditions for the completion of the Offer have been fulfilled and Evolution has decided to complete the Offer.
Settlement in respect of shares tendered by the shareholders who accepted the Offer during the period up to and including 20 November 2020 is expected to commence around 1 December 2020. Evolution has decided to extend the acceptance period up to and including 30 November 2020 to give the remaining shareholders an additional opportunity to accept the Offer.
“This strategic deal marks a significant step towards Evolution’s long-term vision of becoming the global market leader in the online casino industry. The combination of Evolution’s strong offering in Live Casino with NetEnt’s leading position in online slots will result in a world-class portfolio of online games that will enable us to serve a growing customer base. Furthermore, NetEnt’s established US positioning combined with Evolution’s existing US studios and first-to-regulated-market strategy will put us in a favorable position to capitalize on the on-going regulation in North America,” said Jens von Bahr, Chairman, Evolution Gaming.
On 12 October 2020, Evolution extended the acceptance period to 20 November 2020. The acceptance period has now expired and the Offer has been accepted by shareholders holding 230,541,946 shares in total (of which 33,660,000 are shares of series A and 196,881,946 are shares of series B), corresponding to approximately 93.9 percent of the total number of shares and 97.3 per cent of the total number of votes in NetEnt.
Evolution’s board of directors will, in reliance on the authorisation from the extraordinary general meeting held on 24 September 2020, decide on a new issue of 30,108,779 shares in Evolution which Evolution will pay as consideration to those shareholders in NetEnt who have accepted the Offer and settlement in respect of shares tendered by the shareholders who accepted the Offer no later than 20 November 2020 is expected to commence around 1 December 2020.
Evolution has decided to extend the acceptance period up to and including 30 November 2020 in order to give the remaining shareholders an additional opportunity to accept the Offer. Settlement in respect of shares tendered during the extended acceptance period is expected to commence around 9 December 2020.
Recently, NetEnt has vastly improved its tech and product development capabilities and thereby its growth prospects and at the same time reaching a strong position within the US states that have opened up for online casino. With this deal, there are unique possibilities to shape a leading global B2B provider of online casino, taking advantage of the market development with continued digitalization and strong growth, especially in North America. Evolution’s position within Live Casino combined with NetEnt’s position within online slots will create a company well-positioned to take significant market shares. Through this transaction, a new chapter in the development of more entertaining online casino begins, in the best interest of players, operators, employees, and shareholders,” said Mathias Hedlund, Chairman, NetEnt.
