The man of twists and turns: Bally’s intralot CEO Robeson Reeves’ insistence that an Athens listing provides it with a greater level of institutional investor interest than other potential domiciles has been dismissed by an investor, who suggested that a company such as Bally’s Intralot with UK revenues but a Greek listing “falls into no man’s land and is an orphan stock.”

• “Put simply I doubt very much that institutional money will follow the Ballys Intralot story,” the investor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told E+M.
• “The assets aren’t unique enough and the company’s role within the indices simply isn’t relevant or large enough,” they added.

Tell the old story for our modern times: Reeves said last week in the wake of the news of the Evoke deal that the company had “thought very carefully” over the decision to remain listed in Athens at the time of the merger of the Bally’s international interactive (BII) business with the lottery services supplier.

• Reeves noted that when BII was part of Bally’s Corporation and listed in New York, he was “never asked a single question about the online business outside America.”
• “So what is best for us? I think relevance is the most important thing for anyone.” he added.
• “In Athens we are a top-20 stock. With this combination, we go into the top 10. So we fall into index funds and people must trade you.”

This is absurd, that mortals blame the gods! But the investor was left unimpressed. “A listing in Athens is not a positive,” they said. “The Greek stock exchange is still technically an emerging market and so followed by emerging market investors/analysts rather than European analysts.”

• They added that the Greek exchange is made up of Greek banks and telcos and OPAP/ Allwyn.
• “OPAP was very much part of the national champion bank/telco-type framework,” they noted. “Allwyn is not and Bally’s Intralot certainly isn’t either.”

They say we cause their suffering, but they themselves increase it by their folly: The investor said while they agreed that when BII was a part of Bally’s they didn’t receive any questions about the UK business, “it wasn’t like they embraced Europe either.”

• “Disclosure was poor and whenever I spoke to Bally’s CFO or IR team they were quasi real estate guys,” they added.
• “Casino was their bread and butter and Gamesys online gaming was not part of their daily vocabulary either.”

Scylla and Charybdis: One UK-based analyst, also talking to E+M on condition of anonymity, said Bally’s Intralot having an Athens listing was “almost an accident of history,” but they added that London was also not the magnet for investors it might once have been.

• “The home market is a perhaps less-compelling story,” they added, pointing out the UK tax changes and, prior to that, the regulatory flux has “had an impact on investor sentiment.”

They ate the sun god’s cattle: But in attempting to buy Evoke with an all-shares offer and a small slug of cash, the company is putting UK shareholders in a position where there could be some degree of “flowback.”

• “There will be some Evoke shareholders who cannot hold Greek paper, because they’re the XYZ UK equity fund,” they pointed out.
• “It’s just not their job to own Greek paper, so they’ll be neutral sellers.”

I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man’s house and be above ground: Similar criticism could be levelled at the other big Athens-listed operator, Allwyn, which was recently formed by the merger with Greek ex-monopoly betting, gaming and lottery operator OPAP. But the investor pointed out that it has a “slightly different story to tell.”

• “OPAP was 100% seen as a quality national champion until the Allwyn deal,” they said.

I always stand near you and take care of you, in all your hardships: The Allwyn deal meant that local investors in Greece shied away from the company because it was a complicated story, no longer pure-play national champion and, for now, remains orphaned by most other investors.

• “The original plan from Allwyn was to then move to a primary listing in the US/UK and have the secondary listing in Greece,” the source suggested.
• “However, to get the deal over the line they need to formally keep the primary listing in Greece.”
• “Allwyn is, however, actively pursuing a secondary listing in either the UK or the US.”

Across the wine dark sea: Other examples of dual listings include Flutter, which is still, for now, listed in London, and Light & Wonder, which until just recently was listed in both New York and Sydney. But each of their stories suggest dual listings sooner or later resolve to a single listing.

• Flutter is currently undertaking a review of its listing status in London and is likely to announce a permanent departure.
• Light & Wonder is now solely domiciled in Sydney, a decision that this week chair Jamie Odell said was made due to the “deep” investor base and “strong understanding of the global gaming sector.”

Hollow ships: IG is another UK-listed company that is currently considering a US switch. But in a note published this morning analyzing the choices, Deutsche Bank said the outcome of Flutter’s switch to New York had been “meaningfully poor.”

• Further, the potentially higher liquidity that may follow can “arguably accentuate unfavorable news when it arrives, due to more trading activity and/or greater ability to short.”

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