At a special meeting held yesterday (14 November), 99.88% of the shares voted to back the proposed Apollo deal. This represents approximately 71.48% of outstanding shares of Everi common stock from 3 October, the date for the meeting.
Everi stockholders will receive $14.25 per share in cash for each share of Everi common stock they own immediately prior to the effective time of the merger.
Stockholder approval is one of several closing conditions that must be met in order for the acquisition to go through. Should other criteria be met, the proposed deal is expected to close by the end of Q3 2025.
“We are pleased that our stockholders supported our transaction with the Apollo Funds,” Everi board chairman Michael Rumbolz said. “We now shift our focus to the important next steps toward completing the transaction and maximising value for Everi stockholders.”
Everi: part of the puzzle for Apollo
Apollo announced the acquisition in July this year. The wider deal also includes International Game Technology’s (IGT) gaming business, with the overall value of the transaction amounting to $6.3 billion (£5 billion/€6 billion).
Should the acquisition proceed, Apollo will spin off IGT’s gaming business and merge it with Everi under one combined enterprise. An IGT board special committee and the Everi board of directors have given unanimous approval to the proposal.
This concept to the two companies was not new, with a merger of the two businesses already in motion. In February, IGT announced plans to merge the Global Gaming and PlayDigital businesses with Everi. This agreement has been superseded by the Apollo proposal.
Selling off its gaming business will see IGT become a lottery-only operation. In anticipation of the deal completing, IGT this week published its first quarterly results in which gaming and digital were classified as discontinued operations.
Everi slips to Q3 net loss
On the subject of results, Everi this week published data for Q3, during which it saw revenue fall 9.1% to $187.9 million.
Fintech revenue was marginally higher at $96.3 million, helped by additional revenue from software sales and support related services related to kiosk and loyalty solutions. Gaming revenue, however, fell 17.9% to $91.5 million primarily due to a decrease of units sold.
Operating costs increased 14.4% to $176.4 million, meaning operating profit dipped 78.2% to $11.4 million. After including $18.6 million in other expenses, pre-tax loss reached $7.2 million, compared to last year’s $32.5 million profit.
Everi received $4.6 million in tax benefits and also noted $1.7 million in foreign currency translation gain. However, it still ended Q3 with a net loss of $836,000, in contrast to a $25.0 million net profit in the previous year.
As for year-to-date, key figures include revenue falling 7.7% to $568.4 million, again due to declines in the gaming segment. Operating expenses climbed 9.6% to $502.1 million, with operating profit 58.1% lower at $66.2 million.
After other costs, pre-tax profit was $10.2 million, down 89.8%. Everi received $971,000 in tax benefits and gained $722,000 on foreign currency translation. However, it still saw net profit drop 85.2% to $11.9 million.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/strategy/ma/everi-stockholders-approve-apollo-acquisition/
