Playtech Unveils €50 million Stock Buyback Program

Gambling software company Playtech (LSE: PTEC) today released a statement that it will soon be buying ‎back up to 6,000,000 of its issued ordinary shares, or 1.85 percent of the company's current outstanding shares, valued at nearly €50 million ($53.70 million). The FTSE 250 company said the move demonstrates the substantial opportunities that are available to drive future ‎growth, as well as its high cash generation. ‎

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Recent estimates suggest that Playtech’s current market capitalisation is £2.591 ‎billion ($3.30 billion). The company, which was founded by Israeli entrepreneur Teddy Sagi and counts Ladbrokes and Coral ‎as customers,‎ has been trading on the London Stock Exchange since 2006‎.

Following this news, Playtech’s stock dropped from above 823p to as low as 807p within about an hour's time, although the stock has since bounced back. The stock traded recently at 812p, down about 1.7 percent on the day.

In a statement to London Stock Exchange, Playtech said that it aims to reduce ‎the Company's share capital by means of purchasing its ordinary shares from time ‎to time using existing cash resources. The buy-back programme will be ‎conducted by its broker Canaccord Genuity Limited in accordance with the terms ‎of the general authority to make market purchases of its own shares given to ‎the company.‎

‎‎Playtech also added that the Buyback Programme has no impact on its M&A strategy and should the markets offer an opportunity to purchase ‎shares at compelling valuations, it has the ability to utilise a portion of our cash resources for the benefit ‎of shareholders.

The company will be embarking soon on the buy-back program, which will continue until purchasing the maximum amount or December 31, 2016, whichever is sooner. Once re-purchased, the shares will be cancelled, the company said.

‎Commenting on recent consultation papers issued by the FCA and CySEC CySEC The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is a financial regulatory authority of Cyprus. CySEC is one of the key watchdog authorities for brokerages in Europe, whose financial regulations and operations comply with the European MiFID financial harmonization law.Founded in 2001, CySEC is instrumental in providing licensing and registration for forex brokers and previously binary options providers.CySEC is responsible for a variety of different functions, which includes the supervision The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is a financial regulatory authority of Cyprus. CySEC is one of the key watchdog authorities for brokerages in Europe, whose financial regulations and operations comply with the European MiFID financial harmonization law.Founded in 2001, CySEC is instrumental in providing licensing and registration for forex brokers and previously binary options providers.CySEC is responsible for a variety of different functions, which includes the supervision Read this Term, the software group said: “Playtech has always aimed to operate its financials division at the very highest standards of Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term and therefore confirms that last ‎week's publication by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and today's proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority are ‎not expected to have a material impact on Playtech's financials division.”‎