Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) (“Aristocrat”) today confirmed that the sale of Plarium Global Limited (“Plarium”) to Modern Times Group (“MTG”) (Nasdaq Stockholm: MTG B) has completed. The sale, which was announced in November 2024, was the result of a strategic review into Aristocrat’s casual and mid-core gaming assets that began in May 2024. Proceeds from the sale will be deployed consistent with Aristocrat’s long-term growth strategy and established capital management framework, with an update on capital management to be provided at the company’s Annual General Meeting on 20 February 2025 (Sydney time). The transaction is expected to result in a gain on sale in FY25.
In addition, having thoroughly assessed all options to maximise shareholder value, Aristocrat confirms that it will restructure its Big Fish Games (“Big Fish”) operations. Going forward, Big Fish will be solely focused on the continued, efficient, and profitable operation of its evergreen titles, with no new game development and significantly reduced investment in the Big Fish portfolio.
With the strategic review complete, Aristocrat will also retire the Pixel United reporting segment and remaining Pixel United corporate team structure. Effective from the Group’s first half results reporting (for the six months to 31 March 2025):
- Product Madness will replace the Pixel United reporting segment and will include results from both Product Madness (Aristocrat’s core social slots business) and Big Fish.
- Plarium will be classified as a discontinued operation, and its results will be excluded from the calculation of Net Profit after Tax and Before Amortisation of Acquired Intangibles (NPATA).
As part of these changes, Superna Kalle, Aristocrat’s Chief Strategy Officer, will take executive leadership responsibility for Product Madness, in addition to her existing responsibilities for Strategy and Corporate Development, and critical enterprise capabilities including Transformation and Data.
Aristocrat Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Trevor Croker, said: “With the completion of the strategic review of our casual and mid-core gaming assets, Aristocrat is well placed to accelerate our refreshed growth strategy. We are deepening management focus and targeting investment behind our core strengths in regulated gaming and gaming-themed content, to unlock new and adjacent opportunities across global markets.”
“The outcomes of the review reflect Aristocrat’s ongoing focus on driving shareholder value, with the benefit of clear choices and a commitment to growth,” Mr Croker concluded.
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Following Plarium’s classification as a discontinued operation, Aristocrat’s FY25 modelling inputs disclosed in the FY24 Results Presentation in November 2024 will change. Aristocrat will provide an update as part of the Business Update & Outlook comments in Mr Croker’s CEO address at the 2025 Annual General Meeting, which will be lodged with ASX.
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James Coghill General Manager, Investor Relations
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