Vienna / Sydney – August 27, 2025. Austria’s Novomatic, one of Europe’s largest gaming technology firms, has officially terminated its scheme of arrangement to acquire the remaining 47.1% of Ainsworth Game Technology, following strong opposition from minority shareholders. Nevertheless, an unconditional takeover offer remains in place.
The collapse of the arrangement came swiftly after shareholders signalled their discontent, prompting Ainsworth and Novomatic to invoke clauses 3.7(a) and 13.1(e) of the implementation deed to terminate the agreement immediately.
Nevertheless, Novomatic reiterated that its final, non-negotiable cash bid of A$1.00 per share (approximately US$0.64) is still valid and will continue. The move reflects the company’s intention to adopt a more hands-on role in Ainsworth’s affairs.
Ainsworth’s Independent Board Committee (IBC) continues to support the takeover bid—pending validation by an independent expert that the offer is fair, reasonable, or at least “not fair but reasonable” for shareholders, and assumes no superior proposals emerge.
Novomatic, already the majority stakeholder in Ainsworth, has made clear that if its shareholding reaches 75%, it plans to delist Ainsworth from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) — deeply aligning the company under its ownership.
Analysts suggest this strategic pivot echoes Novomatic’s broader goal: consolidating its footprint across the Asia-Pacific and United States markets through a unified, streamlined entity. However, the public shareholder resistance underscores underlying tensions surrounding valuation and control.
