Australian company Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. (ALL.AX) announced that it has acquired Israeli social gaming developer Plarium Global Limited for $500 million cash.
The deal is expected to close before the end of this year in December; DLA Piper, who worked together with global counsel Herzog Fox & Neeman to advise Citi (sole financial adviser) on its provision of financial advice to Aristocrat Leisure, had described it as "likely to be one of the largest deals of its kind within the Israeli market."
DLA Piper stated: “Aristocrat Leisure Limited, is one of the largest manufacturers of gaming solutions in the world. Plarium Ltd, headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, is a social gaming developer with over 1,200 employees worldwide with offices in the US and Europe, including Ukraine and Russia.”
Plarium’s CEO and Cofounder Avraham Shalel will continue to lead Plarium after the acquisition. Shalel said, "I am very proud of the success we have achieved since establishing the business in 2009. The hard work and efforts of Plarium’s employees have positioned Plarium as a world class mobile game publisher. Aristocrat is an ideal partner for us given our common aspiration to be a global leader in social gaming, which will be accelerated through leveraging Aristocrat’s financial, strategic and operational resources."
Anna Walker, Associate Director for Global Risk Analysis at Control Risks, led a jurisdictional risk review for Aristocrat to support this acquisition.
