Launches and sign-ups 6 August 2014
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (31 July to 6 August 2014)
Scientific Games to acquire Bally in US$5.1bn deal
Two gaming giants will merge next year after Scientific Games agrees to pay US$5.1bn including $1.8bn of existing Bally debt
Scientific Games has revealed it is to acquire Bally Technologies for US$5.1bn, creating a global gaming company with revenues of around $3bn per year.
The deal will see Scientific Games pay $83.30 per share for the supplier, putting the total value of the acquisition at $5.1bn including $1.8bn of existing Bally debt. The takeover is expected to close early next year.
The acquisition comes just months after Scientific Games’ $1.5bn buyout of slots giant WSM, which completed in October last year, and Bally’s $1.3bn takeover of SHFL, which completed in November 2013.
Newly appointed Scientific Games CEO Gavid Isaacs said the acquisition of Bally provides a “unique opportunity to combine two exceptional companies with long track records of creating leading-edge games and gaming technology products”.
Amaya completes PokerStars and Full Tilt buyout
Amaya Gaming’s $4.9bn acquisition of Rational Group, the parent company of Full Tilt and PokerStars, has been completed just six weeks after it was announced.
The deal sees the Canadian B2B supplier create an egaming powerhouse and could see PokerStars make a return to the US market later this year.
Outgoing Rational Group founder and CEO Mark Scheinberg said he is “happy” to see the brands being transferred to a “strong new ownership”.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Betway backs Bingo launch with latest ad campaign
Betway unveiled its new ad campaign last week to push the newly launched Betway Bingo.
The 30-second TV ad ‘Lucy’ is the latest in a series of adverts to be released in partnership with creative agency Above+Beyond and forms part of its ‘Betway Stories’ campaign.
eGaming Review previously reported Betway had been planning to launch a Bingo vertical during the summer and the recent launch sees it join Betway’s Sports, Vegas, Casino and Poker products.
GTECH CEO talks up IGT acquisition
GTECH chief executive Marco Sala said his firm’s US$6.4bn acquisition of IGT “makes sense for both sides” in the firm’s first meaningful comments on the proposed deal.
Speaking during a conference call after the firm’s H1 results last week, Sala said the deal would be transformational for both GTECH and the gaming industry as a whole and would create a “single point of accountability” for operators.
“We will have the most diversified product portfolio in the gaming industry, and we will also enter the social gaming space in a substantial way with IGT’s industry-leading Double Down social casino,” Sala said. “We’re sure of the returns [on the investment] over time.”
Tombola quick on the Pulse with new bingo game
Leading bingo operator tombola has launched a new rapid-play bingo variant aimed in part at boosting revenues from mobile and tablet users.
Pulse consists of nine quick-fire 36-ball games, each starting at staggered times with entries between 10p and £2, in order to significantly reduce player waiting times, which on other games can last for as long as four minutes.
Pulse has been released across all platforms, however, tombola said it expected the speedy nature of the product to appeal to customers which look to play when travelling.
Winamax forced to pull new poker variant
Winamax has been forced to withdraw its new Go Fast Poker variant just hours after it was initially launched.
The operator launched the fast-fold product on Tuesday under a new tab on its website, however, later that afternoon the tab had disappeared from view after the product had been pulled.
Speaking to eGaming Review, a spokesperson for Winamax confirmed the withdrawal of the product was due to technical issues, however, insisted the difficulties were “no big deal”.