Market Briefs

Playtech Acquisitive with £112 Million Share Placing

With an eye on funding future acquisitions, Playtech Ltd., the London-listed software developer, raised £112 million via a share placing Tuesday.

The placing -- 21.6 million shares at 520 pence, or $10.14, a share -- was carried out by Collins Stewart, a British financial services company.

In a prepared statement, Collins Stewart said the placing was "heavily oversubscribed," while an article in Forbes magazine on Tuesday said it generated "significant U.S. demand."

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Weekly Statistics from Bloomberg.com

Listing

Low Close: 520 pence ($10.20)

High Close: 548 pence

Weekly Change: - 5.1 percent

Market Capitalization: £1.28 billion ($2.5 billion)

'Yes, We Will Recover,' ESI Chief Says

Having revealed an 85 percent loss in full-yearly revenue and resolved its costly United States legal issues, Anthony B. Greening, the chief executive of ESI Entertainment Systems Inc., said the company will recover.

"Yes, we will recover," Mr. Greening told Interactive Gaming News by telephone Wednesday. "We're interacting with a number of groups to build the volumes and to look for various financing options."

For the 2008 fiscal year ended Feb. 29, 2008, ESI, which offers technology and services to the land-based and online gambling industries, reported consolidated revenue of 3.25 million Canadian dollars, or $3.2 million, from 22 million Canadian dollars in 2007.

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Weekly Statistics from Bloomberg.com

Listing

Market Capitalization: 4.2 million Canadian dollars ($4.1 million)

Note: Trading in ESI's shares was suspended on June 5, 2008, and has not resumed.