Flutter in talks to buy Playtech's Italian unit
Sky News says deal could be worth about 2 bln stg
Playtech shares jump 22% to highest since March 2022
Flutter shares climb 10%
Adds Flutter's response and details throughout
By DhanushVignesh Babu
Aug 14 (Reuters) -Irish betting giant Flutter Entertainment FLTRF.L is in talks to buy UK gambling technology firm Playtech's PTEC.L Italian unit Snaitech, the companies said on Wednesday.
Sky News had earlier reported that a deal for Snaitech, one of Italy's largest gambling companies, could be worth about 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion).
Playtech's shares jumped as much as 22% to their highest since March 2022 on the potential deal. London-listed shares of Flutter, the world's largest gambling firm which owns Paddy Power and BetFair, rose 10%.
Flutter, which raised its full-year financial guidance late on Tuesday, already owns Sisal, the largest online gambling operator in Italy.
Flutter is in more than 20 countries globally, including the booming U.S. market where it operates the FanDuel brand.
Playtech has operations in 19 countries. Snaitech, its business-to-consumer unit, made 946.6 million euros ($1.04 billion) in revenue last year.
Playtech and Flutter did not disclose the size of the potential transaction and said in separate statements there was no certainty that a deal would happen.
"There's a long list of potential acquisition opportunities for Flutter to expand internationally," CEO Peter Jackson told Reuters on Tuesday, without elaborating.
If the transaction goes through, it would join a wave of recent deals by London-listed companies.
Separately, The Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that Flutter was believed to have made a formal offer for Betnacional, Brazil’s fifth biggest gambling operator.
($1 = 0.7784 pounds)
($1 = 0.9061 euros)
Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mark Potter
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