Another day, another stock purchase for Scientific Games Chairman Ron Perelman.
On Wednesday, the 76-year-old billionaire – currently No. 49 on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $9.2 billion – spent more than $2.43 million to acquire 120,000 shares of the gaming equipment manufacturer at $20.29 a share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The share purchase followed Perelman’s investment of $2.17 million on Monday to acquire 110,000 shares at $19.73.
Through his New York-based MacAndrews & Forbes investment arm, Perelman controls more than 39 percent of the Las Vegas-based company, which provides gaming equipment to both the casino industry and lotteries worldwide.
Shares if Scientific Games closed at $20.31 on the Nasdaq Wednesday, down 47 cents or 2.26 percent.
Acquiring Scientific Games stock is not unusual for Perelman. In December, he spent $27 million to acquire 1.5 million shares of the company’s stock over a multiple day buying spree. The company has made any comment on the stock purchase.
SunTrust Bank gaming analyst Barry Jonas suggested Tuesday that suitability concerns over Sylebra Holdings, the company’s third-largest shareholder, may have spurred the stock purchase.
Scientific Games sued the Hong Kong-based company on Friday to force compliance with requests for information and disclosure submissions for suitability from more than two dozen gaming regulatory bodies both in the U.S. and internationally.
“Mr. Perelman has consistently added to his Scientific Games equity position when there’s been some sort of dislocation in the stock price – including (the) recent noise around Sylebra,” Jonas said Monday’s stock buys were announced through an SEC filing. “We think this points to Mr. Perelman’s current view on valuation and his longer-term conviction in the business.”
