Lottery equipment maker attracts acquisition offer

Shares of lottery equipment maker Gtech Holdings Corp. rose Monday after the company said it was considering an acquisition offer from an unidentified party.

Gtech spokesman Robert Vincent said the companys board of directors is taking the nonbinding offer seriously, but he would not say who had made the offer. The West Greenwich-based company said its board hired Citigroup Global Markets as an adviser to help review the offer.

"If they felt that it was an offer that had the potential to benefit shareholders, then it would be their fiduciary responsibility to review that," Vincent said.

Shares of Gtech rose $4.38, or 14 percent, to close at $34.81 on the New York Stock Exchange -- above the previous 52-week high of $30.81 set Friday.

Gtech said it wont make any further statements on the offer until it either reaches a definitive contract or rejects it.

2005-09-12