Light & Wonder shares leap 25% on $190 million legal breakthrough with Aristocrat Leisure

Aristocrat Leisure and Light & Wonder are grabbing plenty of investor interest today. Let's see why.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published January 12, 11:08 am AEDT

Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX: ALL) and Light & Wonder Inc (ASX: LNW) shares are both in the green on Monday.

Aristocrat Leisure shares are up 1.1% in morning trade, changing hands for $57.85.

But its Light & Wonder shares that are really on fire today. In earlier trade, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gaming technology company leapt 24.8%, trading for $193 each. At the time of writing, shares are swapping hands for $181.11 each, up 17.1%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.4% at this same time.

Here's what's grabbing ASX investor interest today.

Ecstatic woman looking at her phone outside with her fist pumped. — Image source: Getty Images

Light & Wonder shares rocket on legal settlement

Investors are sending Light & Wonder shares surging following a joint announcement with Aristocrat Leisure, which informed the market that the two gaming companies have agreed to settle their legal disputes in Australia and the United States.

As you may be aware, Aristocrat took legal action after alleging that Light & Wonder used its trade secrets and copyrighted materials to develop Light & Wonder's Dragon Train game as well as its Jewel of the Dragon game.

While the specifics of the agreement remain confidential, we do know that Light & Wonder agreed to pay US$127.5 million (around AU$190 million) to Aristocrat to settle the matter.

Light & Wonder shares are getting a big boost following the settlement, with the company acknowledging that it made use of some of Aristocrat's maths information to develop both Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon.

The ASX 200 gaming company agreed to stop selling the two games around the world. It will also permanently destroy all documents relating to the appropriated maths information.

What did management say?

Commenting on the agreement sending Light & Wonder shares flying higher today, CEO Matt Wilson said, "Light & Wonder is pleased to resolve this matter and move forward. We are firmly committed to doing business the right way, respecting our competitors' intellectual property rights while protecting our own rights."

Wilson continued:

This matter arose when a former employee inappropriately used certain Aristocrat math without our knowledge and in direct violation of our policies. Upon discovery, we took immediate action and have since implemented strengthened processes aimed at preventing similar issues in the future.

This settlement protects the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders, and allows us to continue our focus on developing and delivering the market-leading content our customers expect, without distraction or disruption.

"Aristocrat welcomes fair competition but will always robustly defend and enforce its intellectual property rights," Aristocrat Leisure CEO Trevor Croker added. "As an ideas and innovation company our intellectual property is vital to our ongoing success."

With today's intraday moves factored in, the Light & Wonder share price is up 32.6% over 12 months.

The Aristocrat Leisure share price is down 18.2% over this same period.

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