Scientific Games Nearing Australian IPO of Lotteries Division
Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS), one of the world’s biggest producers of slot machines, is closing in on an Australian initial public offering of its global lotteries business that could raise as much as A$4 billion ($3 billion).
The company, which is based in Las Vegas, plans to raise at least A$1.3 billion from cornerstone investors and the rest from elsewhere. The share sale process, which values the company at roughly 14 times EBITDA, could begin this week.
In June, Scientific Games announced that it was looking into divesting its lottery and sports-betting divisions through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, a sale, or a strategic merger with another business. It then agreed to sell its sports betting division OpenBet to Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EDR) for $1.2 billion in cash and stock.
However, at present, the news about the Australian IPO is highly speculative, and the company may not proceed with the listing. If it does go ahead, it would make it the largest float in Australia since 2014, when the health insurer Medibank Pvt. (ASX: MPL) raised A$5.7 billion.
There have been numerous local offerings in the current quarter, such as a A$653 million sale by the small business lender Judo Capital, A$1.3 billion by investment boutique GQG Partners Inc, and A$371.6 million by steel distributor Vulcan Steel.
The plan for the IPO of Scientific Games’ lotteries division comes after last year’s purchase of Ronald Perelman’s 34.9% stake in the company by a group of investors led by Sydney-based Caledonia.
Scientific Games has said that its instant games business has a 69% share of the $101 billion US market. The company’s retail solutions and systems business has roughly a third of a $184 billion market, and its iLottery business makes up 13% of the $26 billion market.
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