Australian racing giant Tabcorp Holdings is one step closer to finalizing its AU$11 billion merger with Tatts Group after completing its divestment of Odyssey Gaming Services to Federal Group subsidiary, Australian National Hotels Pty Limited.
The sale of Odyssey, a slot machine monitoring service, was one of the key conditions in the Australian Competition Tribunal’s approval of the merger last month with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) having previously flagged concerns over potential conflicts of interest.
In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday, Tabcorp said it had “agreed to divest Odyssey as part of the process for securing authorization for the proposed combination of Tabcorp and Tatts Group Limited from the Australian Competition Tribunal.
“The ACCC accepted an undertaking to divest Odyssey on 5 July 2017. A variation to the undertaking was accepted by the ACCC on 11 December 2017. The variation related to minor amendments to the approved sale and purchase agreements included with the undertaking.
“The divestment of Odyssey was conditional on the proposed combination becoming effective. Both Tabcorp and ANH have waived this condition to allow for the transfer of the business prior to the Christmas period.”