It’s full steam ahead for U.S. gaming technology provider Scientific Games’ acquisition of NYX Gaming Group Ltd., after the Canadian-listed NYX’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved the $631 million takeover.
On Wednesday, NYX Shareholders voted to approve the acquisition by way of a Guernsey court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. Under the Guernsey law, NYX needed the support of at least 75 percent of its shareholders for the deal to push through. Final results show that NYX shareholders’ ‘yea’ votes represented 99.6 percent of the shares in the court meeting, according to the company.
NYX will now have to present the tally of the shareholders votes and get the approval of the Royal Court of Guernsey. A Guernsey judge has set the hearing for January 5.
In a statement, NYX CEO Matt Davey described the acquisition as “a win-win for both companies and our collective shareholders,” noting that joining Scientific Games means that NYX “will become part of a company with unmatched global reach, resources and industry leading content.”
Following the shareholders’ vote, Davey assured investors of both NYX and Sci Games that the two companies remain committed to delivering value to their customers across the full spectrum of the digital gaming market.
Sci Games CEO and President Kevin Sheehan welcomed the “strong support” of NYX shareholders for its acquisition plans, saying that the takeover will turn the company into a key player in sports wagering.
In September, Sci Games and NYX announced that the two companies entered a definitive takeover agreement. Sci Games believes that acquiring NYX will further strengthen its leadership position and ability to provide the broadest portfolio of content, technologies and digital products and services for its global gaming and lottery customers.
The proposal was first met with strong resistance from British bookmaker William Hill, which sought assurances from Sci Games on the use of Hills’ OpenBet-powered wagering platform. This prompted NYX and Sci Games to lodge separate anti-trust suits against Hills with New Jersey and Nevada courts in November.
Earlier this month, Sci Games announced that it signed an amicable deal that ended all existing litigations and, at the same time, reached a commercial agreement that satisfied the British bookmaker’s previous concerns.
