{"id":235365,"date":"2022-10-04T02:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T07:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=235365"},"modified":"2022-10-04T14:26:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T19:26:05","slug":"engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/","title":{"rendered":"SciPlay Soars After Activist Investor Urges Sale to Light & Wonder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shares of SciPlay (NASDAQ: SCPL) surged 5.68% in Monday\u2019s extended trading session. That’s after activist investor Engine Capital pushed the mobile games developer to consider selling itself to Light & Wonder (NASDAQ: LNW).<\/p>\n

\"Engine
Engine Capital Managing Partner Arnaud Ajdler in an interview. His firm is pressing SciPlay to sell itself to Light & Wonder. (Image: Yahoo Finance<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slot machine maker Light & Wonder, formerly known as Scientific Games, owns 81% of SciPlay. Formerly the social gaming division of Scientific Games<\/a>, SciPlay was spun off from that company in 2019. SciPlay\u2019s well-known offerings are Jackpot Party, Quick Hit Slots, Gold Fish Casino Slots, Hot Shot Casino, 88 Fortunes, Bingo Showdown, <\/em>and Monopoly Slots.<\/em> The games are free to play, but feature in-app purchases.<\/p>\n

\n

Engine Capital wrote a letter to the boards of both companies, laying out a case for why Light & Wonder should acquire the 19% of SciPlay it doesn\u2019t currently own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The investor, which is one of the largest SciPlay shareholders, says the Las Vegas-based company is worth $15 to $16 a share. At the low end of that range, that implies a valuation that\u2019s more than 25% above the stock\u2019s Monday closing price. Engine believes that the acquisition would immediately add to Light & Wonder\u2019s earnings.<\/p>\n

Engine Capital Idea isn\u2019t Original<\/h2>\n

Activist investors often push for change at the companies they invest in. Hence, the term \u201cactivist,\u201d and those alterations can, and do, include mergers and acquisitions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a critique, but Engine\u2019s idea of Light & Wonder acquiring SciPlay isn\u2019t original. Scientific Games in July 2021<\/a> offered an 11% premium to purchase the 19% of SciPlay it doesn\u2019t own. At that time, the suitor said it wouldn\u2019t entertain other offers for the target.<\/p>\n

If a deal can\u2019t be reached between both companies, or if Light & Wonder is no longer interested to acquire SciPlay, we don\u2019t believe the status quo is desirable and we would then encourage SciPlay to start a review of its strategic alternatives and look for a buyer with the blessing of Light & Wonder,”<\/strong> Engine Capital Managing Partner Arnaud Ajdler and partner Brad Favreau wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Light & Wonder abandoned its bid<\/a> for SciPlay last December, sending shares of the target soaring in the process.<\/p>\n

Engine Capital Active with SciPlay<\/h2>\n

Engine Capital disclosed what\u2019s now a 7.4% stake in SciPlay in a March regulatory filing, and by the end of the second quarter, the investor controlled four board seats at the Las Vegas-based company.<\/p>\n

In June, the activist investor penned a letter to SciPlay\u2019s board, pressing for information on the gaming company\u2019s relationship with Light & Wonder. Engine expressed concern<\/a> that the two companies extending an intellectual property contract is of no value to SciPlay.<\/p>\n

Speaking of value, Engine Capital asserts Light & Wonder trades at a discount to its intrinsic valuation due in part to the \u201cdrag of SciPlay\u2019s undervaluation.\u201d There might be something to that claim.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite a series of corporate actions aimed at paring debt and bolstering its balance sheet, Light & Wonder\u2019s stock lost nearly half its value over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shares of SciPlay (NASDAQ: SCPL) surged 5.68% in Monday\u2019s extended trading session. That’s after activist investor Engine Capital pushed the mobile games developer to consider selling itself to Light & Wonder (NASDAQ: LNW). Slot machine maker Light & Wonder, formerly known as Scientific Games, owns 81% of SciPlay. Formerly the social gaming division of Scientific […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":235366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,32093,20],"tags":[81903,81966,81906],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEngine Capital Wants SciPlay To Sell Itself To Light & Wonder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Engine Capital is pushing SciPlay to sell itself to parent company Light & Wonder.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engine Capital Wants SciPlay To Sell Itself To Light & Wonder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Engine Capital is pushing SciPlay to sell itself to parent company Light & Wonder.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-04T07:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-04T19:26:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/EC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"674\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/\",\"name\":\"Engine Capital Wants SciPlay To Sell Itself To Light & Wonder\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/EC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-04T07:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-04T19:26:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Engine Capital is pushing SciPlay to sell itself to parent company Light & Wonder.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/engine-capital-wants-sciplay-to-sell-itself-to-light-wonder\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/EC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/EC.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674,\"caption\":\"Engine Capital Managing Partner Arnaud Ajdler in an interview, His firm is pressing SciPlay to sell itself to Light & Wonder. 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