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By Matina Harkoftaki
Intralot is looking to the US market, aiming to “return as a global company, a position that had been lost due to the negative economic conditions recently”, as the president and CEO of the listed company, Socrates Kokkalis, pointed out. , in the context of the recent Extraordinary General Meeting. He has found an ally in this effort in the person of the American fund Standard General, which is expected to enter the company as a strategic investor after the completion of the share capital increase. We remind you that Intralot received, a few days ago, the green light from the shareholders to proceed with AMK up to the amount of 130 million euros, most of which will be directed to the repurchase of approximately 34% of the American subsidiary Intralot Inc , which was exchanged in the context of the debt restructuring of the listed company in August 2021.
The completion of AMK in July
Through this process, the parent group will assume 100% control of the US subsidiary, a move that will remove the existing constraints and facilitate access to funds. At the same time, the listed company will solve the problem of negative equity, a large part of which has been addressed after the debt restructuring, while as soon as it is completed, AMK plans to run the procedures in order for the share to leave the supervision regime. The capital increase will be in favor of the old shareholders while the founder Socrates Kokkalis is expected to fully cover his percentage which amounts to 28%. On the other hand, the American fund is committed to receive up to one third of the unallocated shares. “The amount of 130 million euros is quite large and for this reason the group took care to ensure the existence of a strategic investor”, noted in “K” the deputy CEO of Intralot, Chrysostomos Sfatos, and added: “We estimate that until the increase will be completed by the end of July “.
The new perspectives
A decisive factor in the decision of the Standard General fund, led by Korean-born Soo Kim, to join AMK is the fact that Intraloti in America is one of the three companies specializing in lottery games. “Although this fund is active in the field of gambling and has all the activities related to this sector, it does not have a presence in the lottery type games”, clarified Mr. Kokkalis and added: “This gives a great opportunity to both the fund “As well as for us to grow very strongly in the US market, where our interest is currently focused, but also in other countries. I am sure that we will now move forward with other forces and prospects after the completion of the AMK.” These new perspectives that open up for the group were auctioned by Socrates Kokkalis, who in recent years led a huge effort, which finally bore fruit.
The American stock market
With the completion of the share capital increase, Intralot is finally leaving behind the period of uncertainty, which lasted about two years, closing the debt restructuring cycle and opening a new page. The repurchase of the minority stake in the US subsidiary is expected to pave the way for its introduction in the US dashboard as after gaining full control it is expected to simplify its structure, strengthen its credibility and upgrade its creditworthiness. It should be noted that the parent group has already reached an agreement on the terms and price with the bondholders, who currently own 34% of Intralot Inc.
The activity of Standard General
Note that Standard General is a New York-based mega fund founded in 2007 by Soohyung “Soo” Kim and Nicholas Singer, with a portfolio of 22 clients, at a time when the value of the assets it manages is estimated to be reaches $ 1.823 billion. In recent years, Bally (formerly Twin River) acquired a significant stake in Bally Casino and Entertainment from Caesars for $ 25 million, and bought the Isle of Capris Casino Kansas City in Missouri from Eldorado Resorts. and Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg in Mississippi, paying a total of $ 230 million in cash for both casinos. In addition, it acquired Eldorado Shreveport Resort & Casino in Louisiana and Mont Bleu Resort Casino & Spa in Nevada for $ 155 million.
It currently operates 14 casinos in 10 US states, a racetrack in Colorado, and has access to sports betting licenses in 16 states. In addition, last February, Standard General made a significant investment in the media industry as it acquired US television giant Tegna in partnership with Apollo for $ 5.4 billion. The deal brought Standard General a total of 64 US television stations in 51 different markets, including True Crime, Quest and Twist, while it has an agreement with Bally’s Sports News regional network of sports television stations.
Source: Capital
