Last checked at 
(Adds share move, analysts' comments, background)
By Juliette Portala and Yadarisa Shabong
Feb 2 (Reuters) - British gambling software maker Playtech
said on Wednesday it did not expect its shareholders to
approve a proposed takeover by Australia's Aristocrat
and was considering other approaches.
Playtech's shares fell in early trade but were nearly 3.5%
higher by 1033 GMT.
The British group needs approval from 75% of shareholders
voting at a meeting underway on Wednesday to proceed with
Aristocrat's 2.1 billion pound ($2.84 billion) offer.
"The emergence of a certain group of shareholders who built
a blocking stake while refusing to engage with either ourselves
or Playtech materially impacted the prospects for the success of
our offer," Aristocrat Chief Executive Trevor Croker said in a
separate statement.
Merger and acquisition business in the gaming and gambling
sector has been brisk since the onset of the pandemic, with
lockdowns boosting the popularity of online gaming. Most
recently, the New York Times bought popular word game Wordle.
Many of the target acquisitions have been UK bookmakers as
companies look for British expertise in the field.
Ladbrokes-owner Entain had staved off two approaches
from U.S. counterparts in the past year.
Aristocrat said most of the dissenting Playtech shareholders
took stakes in the company after its 680 pence-per-share offer
was announced in October.
It had previously asked Britain's takeover regulator to rule
whether a group of Asian investors which bought large stakes was
acting as a concert party in a potential breach of takeover
rules, Sky News reported in December.
Among investors taking stakes after the offer announcement
are Hong Kong-based Paul Suen, part owner of English football
club Birmingham City, and Stanley Choi, according to regulatory
filings. The two are among Playtech's top 10 shareholders.
Reuters could not immediately reach Suen or Choi for
comment.
Analysts at brokerage Peel Hunt turned bullish on Playtech's
stock after the company pointed to other "attractive" M&A
proposals from third-parties, upgrading the company to "buy"
from "add" and raising its price target to 700 pence.
The British gambling group sparked the interest of multiple
players last year. Playtech was approached by Hong Kong-based
investor Gopher, its No.2 shareholder, and JKO Play consortium,
led by former Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan.
JKO had planned to sell Playtech's Italian business to
Entain before Jordan withdrew in January, the FT reported.
($1 = 0.7388 pounds)
(Reporting by Juliette Portala in Gdansk and Yadarisa Shabong
in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Pushkala Aripaka; editing
by Rashmi Aich, Subhranshu Sahu, Kirsten Donovan)
