Light & Wonder clears final SciPlay stake acquisition

Light & Wonder’s digital and gaming strategy continues to be firing from all cylinders as the company has just confirmed the acquisition of the remaining 17% stake in SciPlay Corporation, a developer of social casino games and operations.

Light & Wonder has agreed to buy out the remainder of the stake in the company for the sum total of $485m and paying $22.95 per SciPlay share for the stock that it did not hold. The offer that sealed the deal is up from the previously offered $20 per share and a total amount of $422m, which has sped things along.

Light & Wonder President and CEO Matt Wilson has welcomed the opportunity to see his company complete the acquisition of this important asset. Wilson welcomed the chance to integrate SciPlay into Light & Wonder’s ecosystem and boost the return for shareholders in the process, while also strengthening the social and gaming business that operates under the Light & Wonder banner.

Social casino has been a very popular segment that has performed consistently well, Wilson noted, and added that SciPlay is already driving record-breaking results. He hailed the opportunity for synergies therein:

"As one company, we will drive improved collaboration between our talented teams to build and deploy the most engaging games across our digital and land-based platforms and create a more seamless, best-in-class player experience."

SciPlay’s integration, however, won’t disrupt the day-to-day at the company as Light & Wonder is interested in maintaining the creative and business momentum that the social gaming specialist exhibited all on its own. However, a small change has occurred as SciPlay’s common stock has been stopped from trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as part of the acquisition finalization.

SciPlay was similarly happy and welcoming of the acquisition, arguing that the company would now have the opportunity to further boost shareholder gains and ensure that it maintains a steady hand on the rudder towards global expansion and value creation. The combination of the two businesses is set to drive results across the Light & Wonder ecosystem, as well as SciPlay’s own subsidiary operational results.

The deal between the two companies was originally announced in May and it has now followed its logical conclusion.

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