BetMakers chairman Matt Davey increased his stake in the wagering technology developer by more than 1 million shares in the months leading up to a $267 million buyout offer, including a 750,000-share purchase a month after takeover discussions with Tabcorp were made public.
The negotiations were first reported by The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column in February, which revealed discussions between Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan and Davey had started just before Christmas. At the time, BetMakers confirmed that it had held informal talks with Tabcorp, describing them as “early stage” with “no formal offer”.
Last month, however, Tabcorp announced it had agreed to acquire BetMakers for $267 million, or 24¢ a share, a 41 per cent premium to where the company’s stock had been trading over July.
Filings with the ASX show Davey, through a personal vehicle known as Tekkorp, acquired 260,000 shares on December 24 last year at 18.5¢ apiece and another 750,000 shares between March 17 and 20 for 16.75¢ and 17¢ each. At Tabcorp’s offer price, those shares would be worth $67,150 more.
Davey said he did not have any special information about the Tabcorp deal that had not been disclosed to the public when he acquired the shares.
Source: https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/betmakers-chair-bought-shares-after-tabcorp-takeover-talks-began-20260902-p60tnc