Last checked at 
* PTEC agreed deal from Aristocrat last month
* Talks with Gopher Investments in early stages
* Gopher in midst of completing buyout of PTEC unit
(Adds background, shares)
Nov 8 (Reuters) - Playtech is in talks with its
second-biggest shareholder over a possible takeover offer, weeks
after agreeing to a buyout from rival Aristocrat Leisure
, sending the British online gambling software firm
shares up 3% on Monday.
Hong Kong-based Gopher Investments, which holds a nearly 5%
stake in Playtech through an affiliate TT Bond Partners, made a
preliminary approach on Oct. 21 seeking access to some due
diligence information to weigh a possible offer, London-listed
Playtech said.
It said discussions with Gopher were at an early stage and
did not disclose terms of the potential bid, which is likely to
be worth roughly 3 billion pounds ($4.05 billion) according to
Sky News https://bit.ly/3qgPKqL which first reported the
development.
Gopher has become a prominent Playtech shareholder after the
investment fund in September clinched a deal to buy the British
company's financial trading unit following a months-long battle
with Playtech and an Israeli consortium.
That deal for the unit, Finalto, is expected to be completed
in the first half of 2022 as regulators now also decide on a
deadline by which Gopher must either present a firm intention to
bid for all of Playech or walk away.
Australian gambling machine maker Aristocrat, whose 2.1
billion pound offer for Playtech could face competition if
Gopher decides to enter into a bidding war, defended its
proposal and touted its market expertise.
"Aristocrat's long-term engagement with regulators across
key gaming jurisdictions, together with strong financial
fundamentals ... positions (it) to complete the transaction as
planned in the second quarter of calendar year 2022," the
Sydney-listed company said on Monday.
Peel Hunt analysts retained a price target of 680 pence and
a "hold" recommendation on Playtech, saying its investors have
already anticipated an offer higher than Aristocrat's.
Shares in Playtech were 2.4% higher at 725 pence by 0823
GMT. They had gained a little more than two-thirds of their
value this year up to Friday's closing price of 708 pence.
($1 = 0.7414 pounds)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru;
Editing by Edmund Blair and Ramakrishnan M.)
