Playtech founder Teddy Sagi sells 11.5% stake

Teddy Sagi, a billionaire investor and the majority shareholder in the company behind Camden market, Market Tech, sold millions of pounds worth in shares of Playtech to fund his property empire.

Sagi's sold 36.5m shares through his investment vehicle Brickington Trading for 924p apiece, for a total transaction amount of £333.6m.

The volume of shares sold exceeded the 32.0m which the gambling software development company had notified the day before Sagi was intending to sell.

Strong investor demand was the reason for the increased transaction amount, Playtech said in a statement.

According to the FTSE 250 company, Sagi's aim was to diversfy his portfolio and that of his family and to help fund a shift in the same towards real estate and related investments.

Following the transaction, Sagi's remaining stake in the company he helped to found almost two decades ago was reduced by 11.5 percentage points to 6.3%.

The placing was expected to settle on 29 June, Playtech added.

As part of the sale, Brickington agreed not to sell any further stock in the company for at least 180 days, subject to consent from UBS and the customary exceptions.

Goodbody Stockbrokers UC, UBS and Shore Capital Stockbrokers acted as bookrunners for Brickington, placing the shares by means of an accelerated bookbuild.

As of 1610 BST, shares of Playtech were down by 2.62% to 967.50p but ahead by 19.81% over the past six months and just off their record highs.