Kjerulf Ainsworth, son of company founder Len Ainsworth, has extended until 30 January the offer period to acquire an additional 2.9% of Australian slot machine supplier Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT). The offer period had been set to expire on 22 January.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Ainsworth is offering existing shareholders AU$1.30 per share – representing a 30% premium to the unconditional AU$1.00 per share previously offered by majority shareholder Novomatic AG – in a bid to increase his interest in the company from 7.27% to 9.9% – keeping it below the 10% threshold that would trigger potential regulatory complications under gaming licence rules.
The bid is seen as a move against Novomatic, which had sought to take full control of AGT by way of a scheme of arrangement. That scheme was terminated in August after a bloc of shareholders led by Kjerulf rallied enough support to deny the transaction from satisfying conditions precedent.
