Playtech in talks to sell financial unit for $200 million

(Reuters) - Playtech Plc said on Monday it was in talks to sell its financial trading arm for up to $200 million in cash, as the gambling software maker seeks to focus on its core business that has benefitted from a pandemic-led spurt in online betting.

The British company said it was in exclusive discussions for the sale of Finalto with a consortium backed by Barinboim Group, Leumi Partners, The Phoenix Insurance Company and Menora Mivtachim Insurance.

Playtech said $170 million of the offer was payable on completion of the deal and about $110 million of capital needed to run the business would be transferred with the unit.

The Isle of Man-based company said earlier this month that its core B2B business, including casino, bingo and poker, performed very well in 2020 amid strict COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Playtech had also said Finalto had been a "standout performer" in the first half of last year due to increased market volatility and trading volumes but saw a challenging second half.

The company has been selling its non-core assets and recently completed the disposal of YoYo Games for about $10 million, leading to the sale of all its casual and social gaming assets.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)