The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is under pressure on Thursday.
In morning trade, the gaming technology company's shares are down 3.5% to $43.66.
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Why is the Aristocrat Leisure share price falling?
The weakness in the Aristocrat Leisure share price today has been driven by a couple of reasons.
One of course is a selloff on the tech-focused Nasdaq index overnight which is weighing heavily on the local tech sector today. So much so, the S&P ASX All Technology index is down 3.2% in early trade.
Also putting pressure on the Aristocrat Leisure share price was the release of an update on its proposed acquisition of Playtech after the market close on Wednesday.
Late last year, Aristocrat Leisure announced a deal to acquire London-listed leading global online gambling software and content supplier, Playtech, for an enterprise value of $5 billion.
Playtech has two key business segments: Business-to-Business gambling (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer gambling (B2C). The company's B2B gambling operations include the design, development, and distribution of software and services to the online and land-based gambling industry.
Whereas the B2C gambling operations predominantly consists of Snaitech (Italy). It is a vertically integrated retail and online business leveraging Playtech's proprietary technology and capabilities. Other B2C brands include HPYBET and SunBingo. HPYBET is Playtech's retail sports betting B2C business, operating sports betting shops in Austria and Germany.
What's the latest?
Playtech shareholders were due to vote on the takeover proposal at a meeting next week. However, this has now been pushed back until 2 February to allow time for rival JKO Play to make a firm competing offer.
Management notes that Aristocrat's proposal remains the only firm offer that has been made for Playtech. It also highlights that it provides attractive value in cash and enhanced regulatory and financial certainty for Playtech shareholders.
Furthermore, Aristocrat notes that any other potential bidders have already had a substantial amount of time to make an alternative proposal for Playtech. Therefore, the decision to further delay the shareholder meeting only extends the period of uncertainty for all Playtech stakeholders.
One positive, though, is that proxy advisers continue to recommend shareholders vote in favour of Aristocrat's proposal. It also advised that regulatory approvals process remains well on track, and that it is committed to completing the acquisition as quickly as possible.
