Novomatic’s Takeover of Ainsworth Game Technology Falls Through

A few days after announcing that its planned acquisition by NOVOMATIC has been postponed once again, Ainsworth Game Technology Limited, an Australia-based gaming provider, confirmed that the deal has fallen through.

NOVOMATIC Sought to Acquire the Rest of Ainsworth

In its official announcement, Ainsworth commented on NOVOMATIC’s effort to acquire the remainder of the Australian company.

NOVOMATIC has been an Ainsworth majority stakeholder for a while, owning 66.59% of the latter company. Last year, the former business set out to acquire the remainder of its Australian peer in a controversial deal that soon became marred by difficulties and shareholder disagreements.

A group of shareholders, including members of the Ainsworth family, rejected the arrangement, claiming that it undervalues the company. At the same time, company management seemed to be in favor of the deal.

The disagreements resulted in multiple delays and ended up slightly hurting Ainsworth’s share price.

The Deal Did Not Come to Fruition

Earlier this month, Ainsworth confirmed that its planned acquisition by NOVOMATIC had been postponed once again. The announcement was submitted on the day of the original acquisition deadline, January 30, with Ainsworth announcing that the deal’s final date for completing the off-market takeover had been moved to 7 pm Sydney time on February 6.

In a separate filing on February 11, Ainsworth confirmed that the deal did not go through since it did not become effective on or before the end date.

As a result, Ainsworth said that the off-market deal has now been terminated.

Ainsworth advises that it has terminated the Transaction Implementation Deed in accordance with clause 13.1(a) of the Transaction Implementation Deed, effective immediately.

Ainsworth announcement

This announcement comes several days after Ainsworth published an unaudited financial update for 2025, projecting full-year EBITDA of approximately AUD 48.0 million, which would be similar to the results reported in the prior year.