SVL chairman Paul Hoo announced the INTRALOT 10-year sports betting deal on October 9, 2008. - File
INTRALOT, a Greek company that Supreme Ventures Limited has taken on as partner in a sports betting deal, has acquired 80 million SVL shares or just a smidgen above three per cent of the gaming and lottery company's equity.
The purchase, said company secretary Winsome Minott, was not connected to the November deal.
The shares were sold by a director, but Minott would not say who, insisting that any one of them with holdings above three per cent could have participated in the transaction. The shares, she said, were sold at market price which assuming the transaction occurred this month, would have valued the acquisition anywhere within a range of $2.50 and $3.30 per share or about $200 million to $264 million.
Only three directors own or control shares in sufficient volumes - Paul Hoo, 840.25 million, Ian Levy, 296.2 million; and Janette Stewart, 839.8 million according to the company's October 2007 annual report - to sell such a large block.
And, given the notice filed by SVL that the seller was a male director who transacted the business through one of his companies, it narrows the field to two.
SVL, through its new acquisition Big A 2003 Limited, will launch its 'fixed odds' sports betting business by mid-year in partnership with INTRALOT, through its new subsidiary INTRALOT Jamaica, which will provide the equipment and participate in the operation of the business.
The agreement runs for 10 years.
The INTRALOT purchase of SVL shares is the second of similar magnitude in a matter of months. In mid-2008 director Stephen Castagne, whose shareholding to then was 'nil', acquired 60 million SVL shares, representing just under 2.3 per cent of the issued capital.
At mid-year, the stock was trading at about $3.30, which would price that acquisition at or around $198 million.
'From the pool'
Minott said the purchase was done "from the pool", meaning that the order was placed by Castagne through his brokers and acquired on the market.
The acquisitions by Castagne and INTRALOT, said the company secretary, should be seen as a demonstration of confidence in SVL by its director and new partner.
SVL two weeks ago, announced a 59 per cent hike in net profit to $646 million, and a near 12 per cent rise in revenue to $21.2 billion on the ever increasing popularity of its most lucrative lottery game, Cash Pot, whose sales rose $1.5 billion to $15.2 billion.
Last year, SVL increased the price on lotto tickets, its founding game, and more than doubled the starting jackpot to $15 million, up from $7 million, perhaps explaining the profits erased on that game in the current year _ down from $1.3 billion in 2007 to $1.1 billion in 2008.
In the year ahead, the company will have at least two major focuses to come out ahead of the economic downturn: its launch into sports betting and to rebuild the business it attempted to establish in overseas markets. A revamping of its gaming rooms is also on the cards.
lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com