Playtech Stock Crashes After Revelation it Orchestrated Evolution ‘Smear Campaign’

• Playtech named as source of ‘false’ Evolution report
• £1.8M paid to Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube
• Shares plummet 34% as scandal shocks online gambling sector

Evolution AB has named Playtech as the company behind an inflammatory 2021 report that accused the Swedish software supplier of providing games to operators that did business in “banned terror states like Iran, Syria, and Sudan.”

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Evolution said the report was commissioned by Playtech Software Ltd., a subsidiary of London and Isle of Man-based Playtech Plc. The company paid Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube £1.8 million ($2.4 million) to prepare the dossier, which Evolution maintains is false and defamatory, according to the statement.

On Tuesday morning, shares in Playtech [LSE: PTEC] plummeted by 34% on the news. The company said in a statement that it “stands by the decision to commission the report,” which “clearly evidences that Evolution’s business practices undermine lawful and compliant gambling operations.”

Leaked to the Media

In November 2021, the controversial report was sent to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) by the Newark, NJ-based law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP (C&K), which also leaked it to several media outlets, including Casino.org.

When the contents of the report became known to shareholders, Evolution’s stock plummeted, wiping $3 billion off its market cap.

Evolution sued C&K and the then-unnamed entity in December 2021 in the New Jersey Superior Court.

“It is deeply disturbing to learn that one of our competitors has gone to such extraordinary lengths to damage our business and reputation by hiring Black Cube and paying them over £1.8 million to fabricate a report they knew would have extremely harmful repercussions,” Evolution said Monday.

Judge Orders Reveal

In late February 2024, the New Jersey Superior Court ordered C&K to disclose the identity of the entity that commissioned the report so that Evolution could find out who it was suing.

Judge John C. Porto wrote he was confident that the report “lacks veracity,” adding that Evolution was “entitled to all relevant discovery necessary.”

Black Cube’s attempt to appeal an order to reveal the identity of its client was denied.

Smoke and Mirrors

The disclosure that Playtech was behind the report came as a complete surprise, as many had believed a US competitor seeking to level the playing field in the American online gaming market was responsible. In fact, the intermediary who delivered the report to Casino.org on behalf of C&K had suggested as much.

Playtech is a London-based, London-listed company that has its own history of gray market operations. While its focus today is on regulated markets, in 2020, the year it approached Black Cube, the company stated in its annual report that “regulated revenue” was 84% of its total revenue for 2020, implying around 16% was not.