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LeoVegas has been contacted over what the company calls a “preliminary investigation” and a Swedish newspaper calls a “raid” by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority because of suspected insider trading.
The investigation concerns possible insider trading linked to the company’s $607m, or 61 Swedish kronor per share, offer from the Las Vegas casino company MGM Resorts International, according to Dagens Industri, which was the first to report the investigation.
That approach was announced on May 2, along with confirmation that LeoVegas’ board of directors had unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the proposal.
LeoVegas said it was “fully assisting” the authorities in their investigation.
“No employee, member in the management team or board member in the company has been notified about any criminal suspicion,” the company said on Tuesday (June 7).
A LeoVegas spokesman said the company would be making no further remarks beyond its statement and referred questions to the economic authority.
A spokesman for the authority confirmed that staff from the crime agency had visited LeoVegas’ offices.
The MGM takeover bid was a 44 percent premium on LeoVegas’ last trading day before the offer was announced.
The board said it had received “several indications of interest or non-binding offers” of which MGM’s was the best.
The Stockholm-listed company has most of its operations in Malta.
MGM said it was buying the fast-growing LeoVegas to acquire skills in online casino, along with facilitating an expansion in Europe and elsewhere.
MGM’s online casino presence is currently limited to its BetMGM joint venture with Entain in several US states and Ontario in Canada.
MGM previously failed in an attempt to buy the London-listed Entain.
The LeoVegas deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.
In May 2018, Cherry chief executive Anders Holmgren was fired after he was arrested on charges of insider trading at the online casino company, also by the Swedish economic authority.
In 2019, Cherry delisted from the Stockholm exchange.
