News: ALL UPDATE 1-UK's Playtech gets takeover proposal from investor Gopher

(Changes dateline; adds shares, details, Aristocrat response)

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Playtech PTEC.L has received a takeover proposal from its second-biggest shareholder, the British online gambling software developer said on Monday, weeks after it agreed to a deal with Australian gambling machine maker Aristocrat Leisure (ALL) .

Hong Kong-based Gopher Investments, which holds a nearly 5% stake in Playtech, made a preliminary approach on Oct. 21 seeking access to some due diligence information so it could weigh the terms of a possible offer, the London-listed firm said.

Shares in Playtech were up 3.1% at 730 pence in early trading.

Playtech said discussions with Gopher were at an early stage and did not disclose terms of the potential bid, which is likely to be worth about 3 billion pounds ($4.05 billion) according to Sky News https://bit.ly/3qgPKqL which first reported the development.

Australia's Aristocrat, whose 2.1 billion pound offer for Playtech could face competition if Gopher decides to enter into a bidding war, defended its proposal and touted its market expertise.

"Aristocrat's long-term engagement with regulators across key gaming jurisdictions, together with strong financial fundamentals ... positions (it) to complete the transaction as planned in the second quarter of calendar year 2022," the Sydney-listed company said on Monday.

Gopher has become a prominent Playtech shareholder after the investment fund in September clinched a deal to buy the British company's financial trading unit following a months-long battle with Playtech and an Israeli consortium.

Peel Hunt analysts retained a price target of 680 pence and a "hold" recommendation on Playtech, saying its investors have already anticipated an offer higher than Aristocrat's.

($1 = 0.7414 pounds)