On the day that the famous soccer club Juventus closed a successful IPO and the Italian export grew by 5.2 percent, the president of Lottomatica, Luigi Abete, expressed in a analysts' conference call that international publishing company De Agostini's recent offer for Lottomatica was felt as a hostile takeover bid.
Above that the offer of 6 Euros per share was considered
unsatisfactory, and Lottomatica has also noted that the price offered by Tyche, a daughter company of De Agostini, is lower than the market price on the day the communication was sent.
The Lottomatica board is planning an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Jan. 11, 2001 to ask shareholders to accept the conversion of Scientific Games' preferential shares into ordinary ones by parent company Cirmatica Gaming. Cirmatica, an affiliate of Italian telecom company Olivetti, owns about 33 percent of Scientific Games. The move could be a first step toward a merger.
The stock market did not react Monday. In Milan, shares in Lottomatica closed up at 6.623 Euros. Opening was 6.600.
Operating Results
Lottomatica's lotto receipts during November amounted to over ITL 1,409 billion, representing an increase of 48.9 percent with respect to November 2000, when receipts totaled around ITL 946 billion. Average receipts for each draw rose by 67.5 percent, up from the ITL 105 billion of November 2000 to ITL 176 billion this year. There were, moreover, eight draws during November 2001 (every Wednesday and Saturday) compared with nine in November 2000.
November represents the seventh consecutive month of growth in receipts, confirming the trend witnessed throughout the second half of 2001. November winnings totaled more than ITL 717 billion, up from the ITL 492 billion of the same month of 2000.
1 Italian Lira = US$0.0004660
1 U.S. Dollar = 2,146.12 Italian Lira (ITL)