Capital Research and Management Company, a subsidiary of The Capital Group Companies, Inc., reduced its shares in Kindred Group. On Wednesday, Kindred confirmed that it received notification about the reduced number of shares and voting rights by Capital Research and Management Company.

Per the notification, as of January 22, 2024, Capital Research and Management Company now holds 8.63% of shares and voting rights in Kindred. This strategic move comes at a time when La Française des Jeux (FDJ) announced a $2.5 billion bid to acquire Kindred recently. With the proposed strategic bid, FDJ seeks to propel its global presence, after it already has established strong footprint across Europe.

Considering FDJ’s announcement, Kindred’s shares skyrocketed recently. As of January 22, 2024, the company’s shares were up 17% on the Stockholm Nasdaq.

Throughout the years, Capital Research and Management Company’s stake in Kindred varied. An all-time high share and voting rights in Kindred, some 15.33%, were held by the company back in October 2021. More recently, Capital Research and Management Company reduced its stake in July 2022 to 10.86%.

“Kindred Group plc hereby announces that it, on 23 January 2024, has received a notification of major holdings from The Capital Group Companies, Inc., a company with its registered office in Los Angeles, USA. The notification relates to a reduced number of shares and voting rights in Kindred by Capital Research and Management Company, a subsidiary within The Capital Group Companies, Inc. which holds the relevant position in Kindred Group,“

reads a statement released by Kindred Group

Preliminary Q4 Results Point To Growth in EBITDA and Revenue

Amid the announced takeover bid from FDJ, Kindred released its preliminary Q4 2024 results, pointing to an increase in revenue and uptick in EBITDA. In total, Kindred’s revenue for the fourth quarter hit £312.9 million ($398 million), a result that marked an increase of 2% year-over-year.

On the other hand, underlying EBITDA for the period grew as well, hitting £56.8 million ($72.2 million). In contrast, for the fourth quarter in 2022, underlying EBITDA halted at £39.1 million ($49.7 million).

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Currently, Pennsylvania offers a wide range of gambling activities. Such include casino gambling where visitors can enjoy slots and table games, as well as bingo, lottery and sports betting. Additionally, Pennsylvania offers skill games, that are increasingly expanding their presence to locations such as gas stations, convenience stores and bars across the state.

According to a new report, competition in the state is fierce, which has resulted in a decrease in the number of retail slot machines. As announced by Play Pennsylvania, citing a report from the non-partisan consultancy that focuses on policy and regulation of the legalized gambling sector across the globe, Spectrum Gaming Group, slot machines in Pennsylvania have decreased by nearly 1,000 over the last few years.

Last month, the gambling regulator in the state, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), agreed Mohegan Pennsylvania to reduce the number of its slots by 120. Earlier this year, Lady Luck Nemacolin and Hollywood Casino Morgantown removed 100 and 30 slots respectively. In a similar trend, Harrah’s Philadelphia removed 150 slots earlier this year while in 2021, it removed another 563 slot machines.

This makes the total slots removed since 2021 approximately 1,000 machines. Yet, despite the decreasing number of slots, the PGCB recently released its 2022-2023 Annual Report, revealing insights regarding the gambling sector in the state that point to sustainable and responsible growth. The state’s diverse gambling sector, offering online betting, fantasy sports, online gambling platforms and 17 land-based venues, reported revenue surpassing $5 billion. In fact, this result surpassed the revenue reported in neighboring New Jersey.

Retail Slots Compete with iGaming, Skill Games

Despite the strong performance of the legal gambling sector, the reduction of slots is a fact that is not hidden. According to Spectrum, there are multiple factors that impact retail slots in Pennsylvania. Pushed by the pandemic, many gamblers started using online gambling platforms and this trend resided even with the pandemic nearly gone.

Additionally, Spectrum suggests that the growth of the iGaming sector further impacted retail slots, considering that the equivalent of 13,000 slot machines were added online. At the same time, Spectrum acknowledged the strong competition in Pennsylvania and the growing competition from neighboring states.

Another important factor that is likely to contribute toward the decrease in the number of slots in the state is the growing number of skill games. While lawmakers are still in the process of debating the future of such games, by now, they have flooded Pennsylvania and can be found in many businesses.

The post Pennsylvania Reduces Slots with 1K since 2021, Says Report appeared first on Keno Wizard.