Playtika to be acquired for $4.4 billion

A consortium including an affiliate of Shanghai Giant Network Technologies Ltd., one of China's largest online gaming companies, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. to acquire CIE's social and mobile gaming business in a full cash transaction for $4.4 billion.

The consortium includes Giant Investments Limited, Alibaba Group Holdings Founder Ma Yunfeng Capital, China Oceanwide Holdings Group Limited, China Minsung Trust Limited, CDH China HF Holdings Limited, and Hon Capital Fund.

Under the deal, Playtika will remain headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, and operate independently as existing executives continue their day-to-day operations.

"This transaction is a testament to Playtika's unique culture and the innovative spirit of our employees, who have consistently designed, built, and operated the world's most engaging, immersive, and creative social games over the past six years," said Robert Antokol, co-founder and CEO of Playtika. "We are extremely excited by the commercial opportunities the consortium will provide us with, especially the ability to provide access to large and rapidly growing emerging markets. This is an amazing milestone for all Playtika people and we truly value how unique this opportunity is to continue to execute our vision with these powerful partners."

Playtika, headquartered in Israel with additional studios and offices in Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Canada, Japan, Romania, Ukraine and the United States, is a leading global social and mobile free-to-play games company. Through its core technology and expertise in big data, analytics, and M&A, Playtika has successfully developed a scalable platform that is primed for future international expansion.

"Playtika's growth has been exceptional, and highlights its outstanding team, excellent corporate culture, cutting-edge big data analytics, and its unique ability to transform and grow games," said a representative of the Consortium, Giant's founder and Chairman Shi Yuzhu. "We are looking forward to Playtika continuing to innovate and excel."

"It has been a particularly rewarding experience growing Playtika from a 10-person start-up, when CIE acquired them in 2011, into a global leader," said Caesars Interactive Entertainment Chairman and CEO, Mitch Garber. "Playtika today is a highly profitable growth company with more than 1,300 employees, multiple top grossing titles and millions of daily users. Robert is a true visionary and Israeli business leader who has created not only a great business, but also the most unique corporate culture I have seen in my career."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, and is expected to close in the third or fourth calendar quarter of 2016. 카지노사이트

CIE's World Series of Poker and real-money online gaming businesses will not be included in the transaction, and the virtual currency used on the Playtika platform will continue not to be exchangeable for real money.