American Private equity firm Joffre Capital is set to buy Playtika’s 20% controlling stake at an $8.5 billion valuation. It represents about a 46% premium on the company share price at the end of trading on Monday, according to the Axios website.
Playtika’s stock price surged by 32.2% in extended-hours trading.
Joffre Capital is led by James Lu, a former executive at one of the largest dating apps Baidu, and also serves as chairman of LGTBQ dating app Grindr.
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The Israeli-founded mobile gaming giant which will continue to be traded on Nasdaq, is currently controlled by a Chinese consortium led by Yuzhu Shi. Shi bought his stock in 2016 from Caesars Entertainment at a company valuation of $4.4 billion.
Playtika went public on January 2021, just 18 months ago, at an $11.1 billion valuation, in what is considered to be the biggest IPO of an Israeli-founded company
Ever since its flotation, Playtika’s share price fell 45%. In February 2022 the board initiated a process to evaluate its potential strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company.
Playtika was founded in 2010, by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak (the son of former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak). Robert Antokol still serves from the beginning as CEO, and chairman since June 2020.
The company is based in Herzliya and employs 1,000 workers in Israel and an additional 3,000 globally. The company announced 250 layoffs in North America and Europe last month.
