The owner of Paddy Power is in talks to buy the consumer arm of London-listed Playtech in a deal that could be worth about £2bn.
Sky News has learnt that Flutter Entertainment, which recently moved its primary listing to the US, is in discussions to buy Snaitech, one of Italy’s biggest gambling companies.
It was unclear on Wednesday how advanced the talks were, but one source suggested that they were sufficiently detailed that Playtech would be required to publicly confirm them.
A formal agreement is unlikely to be reached until at least next month.
If completed, a deal would value Snaitech at a premium to the current market capitalisation of Playtech, which also has a sizeable business-to-business gambling technology operation.
On Wednesday morning, shares in Playtech were trading at around 548p, giving it a market value of about £1.66bn.
Snaitech, which trades under the brand Snai, saw revenues grow by 5% to €946.6m in the last financial year, and maintained its market-leading position across Italian sports betting brands.
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A sale of the business to Flutter would leave Playtech as a pure-play B2B company which itself would be likely to attract interest from potential bidders.
Run by Mor Weiser, Playtech has had a strong recent run of results because of US expansion in its B2B operations and the stellar performance of Snaitech.
Playtech has been at the centre of a succession of takeover and other corporate dramas in recent years.
In 2022, Playtech shareholders rejected a takeover bid from Aristocrat Entertainment, an Australian peer.
The following year, it was reported to have approached struggling London-listed 888 – now called Evoke – about a combination, but that too fell through.
For Flutter, a deal would mark the latest stage in a relentless corporate overhaul overseen by Peter Jackson, its chief executive.
The company recently shifted its primary listing to the US, a move which stoked concerns about the attractiveness of the London stock market.
It has been building its international empire through acquisitions, with Snaitech the latest substantial deal to be targeted by Mr Jackson.
Flutter has already acquired Sisal, another big Italian group, although it was unclear whether it would be formally combined with Snaitech.
On Tuesday, it reported strong financial results for the second quarter, coming soon after rival Entain – the owner of Ladbrokes – also unveiled better-than-expected numbers.
Entain also recently appointed a new chief executive after enduring a torrid period.
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Flutter, which now has a market capitalisation of almost £26bn, and Playtech declined to comment.
