Playtech founder and Camden Market part-owner Teddy Sagi has bid to acquire the remainder of cybersecurity business Kape Technologies (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Playtech founder and Camden Market part-owner Teddy Sagi has bid to acquire the remainder of cybersecurity business Kape Technologies in a deal that values the entire company at £1.25 billion.
Sagi’s Unikmind Holdings will pay $3.44 (£2.85) for each share of ExpressVPN owner Kape. Unikmind already owns 54.8% of Kape.
Kape started out as an adtech business, but acquired ExpressVPN last year.
If accepted, Kape will delist from the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market. Sagi said delisting would be the best decision for the current financial climate.
“Having weighed the pros and cons of a public listing under the current macro uncertainties and thin stock market trading as well as new growth avenues, we are firm in our view that Kape’s next chapter in its corporate journey should be within the private arena,” Sagi said.
Unikmind added that, “regardless of the outcome of the offer”, it would aim to pass a resolution to take Kape private.
“We are committed to Kape’s further growth within our group of companies, enabling it to exploit operational synergies and to access capital for its continuous growth, especially as the convergence of technologies is gaining momentum,” Sagi added. “Recognising that not all Kape Shareholders may wish to continue with us in a non-listed Kape, our cash offer represents a compelling proposition for fellow shareholders to realise their investment.”
The Kape board has currently not decided whether to recommend shareholders accept the offer.
Shares of Kape are currently trading at 290.6p, up 12% from close of trading yesterday.
Sagi founded gambling technology supplier Playtech in 1999 and acquired Camden Market Holdings in 2014. He owns a number of properties including a luxury Knightsbridge flat where he lives with former Miss Israel Yael Nizri.
Last year, Israeli media reported that the gambling tycoon was the subject of a failed assassination attempt in Cyprus.
