Scientific Games puts social spin-off plans into motion

SciPlay Corporation, the social gaming subsidiary of Scientific Games, has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of a minority interest in its business.

The number of shares that will be offered nor the price range for the share are yet to be determined though, it has been confirmed that SciPlay has applied to list its Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ‘SCPL’.

Should SciPlay proceed with the offering, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, J.P. Morgan Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co., Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, would act as book-running managers for the offering.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and Wedbush Securities Inc. would also act as co-managers for the proposed offering.

The supplier first revealed plans to spin off its social gaming division in November last year, saying at the time that the IPO would allow it to “provide greater flexibility to pursue additional growth initiatives” and “unlock additional value” for its shareholders. It said that proceeds from the offering would be used to pay down the company's net debt, which stood at $9.1bn (£6.97bn/€8.10bn) at December 31, 2018.

The move comes after Scientific Games in February revealed a year-on-year rise in social gaming revenue for the 12 months to December 31, 2018. Revenue for this area of the business grew 14.9% to $415.9m.

Digital revenue more than trebled to $269.6m, helping push overall revenue up 9.1%, despite a marginal decline in gaming revenue – down 0.7% to $1.8bn.

However, Scientific Games still posted a loss of $352.4m for 2018, up 45.4% on the previous year, as operating costs grew at a similar rate as revenue during the year.