Zeal shareholders approve Lotto24 takeover offer

ZEAL Network SE

18/01/2019 11:34

FRANKFURT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - German gambling company Zeal
Network's  TIMGn.DE  shareholders paved the way for the takeover
of rival Lotto24  LO24n.DE  by voting in favour of a capital
increase as well as other preconditions. 
    Zeal said on Friday that it expects the acceptance period
for its offer to start by the end of January 2019. 
    Germany's antitrust regulator has already approved the deal
and Zeal has already secured irrevocable undertakings from
shareholders representing 65 percent of the shares -- above the
50 percent minimum acceptance threshold. 
    Rival Lottoland had tried to scupper the deal and said it
was ready to offer up to 76 million euros ($87 million) for
German lottery business Tipp24 in a move which could have
thwarted the restructuring plans of Tipp24's owner Zeal.
    In Germany, official lottery tickets are sold on behalf of
the state through authorised distributors locally or online,
while so-called 'secondary' lotteries such as Tipp24 bet on the
state lottery numbers but are actually unregulated.
    After German authorities announced plans to tighten
oversight of the secondary sector, Zeal decided to pull out of
that business, a person familiar with the matter said.
    Zeal wants to switch its business model from a secondary
lottery to the legal distribution of state lottery tickets. The
company wants to keep the well-known Tipp24 brand and through it
sell official lottery tickets, the source said.
    As part of that plan, it made the offer to buy Lotto24 AG, a
former subsidiary that already sells official lottery tickets.
    At Zeal's shareholder meeting, 60 percent voted in favour of
the required capital increase, while 51 backed a waiver on
Guenther group - which will own more than 30 percent of the
combined group after completion.
    ($1 = 0.8770 euros)

 (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((arno.schuetze@thomsonreuters.com; +49.69.7565.1197; Reuters
Messaging: arno.schuetze.reuters.com@reuters.net))