Gambling technology company Playtech, received another regulatory jolt, this time in Britain forcing it to abandon its $700 million deal to buy retail forex trading shop Plus500.
The move comes more than a month after Playtech said it would challenge the Irish central bank's decision to oppose its $105m deal for currency trading platform Ava Trade but it did not say what the issues were.
Playtech, which has been on an acquisition spree this year, said it is terminating the agreement to buy Plus500 as the deal was unlikely to obtain approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority by December end.
Playtech, founded by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, has announced four acquisitions since the beginning of the year worth about $1.3 billion.
The company had agreed to buy Plus500 in June to expand its online trading platform.
Playtech said that following an update from the FCA on Friday, it was of the view that the steps being proposed to address certain concerns would not sufficiently satisfy the regulator to enable it to obtain approval by December 31.
Playtech did not mention what concerns were raised by the FCA.
The company said it would not incur any financial penalties with respect to the termination and that it had no immediate plans related to its existing 9.9 per cent holding in Plus500.
However, the termination raises concerns about Playtech's Ava Trade deal. The Irish central bank's opposition to the deal had triggered a termination right for Ava Trade's sellers.
Playtech said although the sellers had not yet exercised this right, the termination of the Plus500 deal increased the risk that they may do so.
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