Rank Gets UKGC Approval for Stride Gaming Acquisition

The Rank Group has got approval from the UK Gambling Commission to proceed with the acquisition of Stride Gaming, the online casino and bingo operator. Rank made an offer of £115.3m (€130.6m/$143.6m) to purchase Stride’s entire fully diluted share capital in May.

Following the approval, Rank and Stride will be meeting next week for a hearing at the Royal Court of Jersey to finalise the acquisition. The hearing is due take place on October 2.

Stride has made an application to London’s Alternative Investment Market exchange to cancel the admission to trading of its shares on AIM, which is expected to take effect from October 7.

The Commission’s approval has come after Stride shareholders in July also voted in favour of the acquisition. A total of 96.43% votes cast backed the transaction, with just 3.57% voting against the deal.

The deal would improve Rank’s performance and reduce costs through migration to Stride’s proprietary technology platform along with in-house ecosystem, as well as also enhancing management team with the addition of senior Stride staff. The merger would also create significant value from strong synergies while also offering greater financial flexibility to the combined business.