Greek Financial Meltdown May Impact IGT. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says
Greece’s ongoing monetary crisis and standoff with European leaders could have repercussions that impact the worldwide economy.
That impact extends even to the gaming industry, as Greece’s efforts to avoid defaulting further on its debts may prove costly to businesses like Overseas Game Technology (IGT) and Scientific Games.
Those manufacturers had been hoping to provide video lottery terminals throughout Greece, utilizing the games simply days away from a launch that is planned. But, the Hellenic Gaming Commission announced lottery that is new in the wake regarding the country’s financial crisis, leaving much uncertainty regarding the short-term future of the industry.
New Regulations Limit Enjoy, Jackpot Size
Each day under the new regulations, daily loss limits were to be added to the machines, and gamblers would be limited as to how much time they would be allowed to play on a machine. Jackpot levels would also be lower under the regulations that are new.
That didn’t stay well with OPAP, the Greek company that operates the video lottery terminal system. The company said that the new regulation would make operating the terminals ‘no longer viable,’ and immediately stopped the deployment of 16,500 machines throughout the country in a statement.
Evaluating the problem realistically, the timing of the regulations that are new OPAP’s choice might be coincidental, and it’s hard to see how it would be directly related to the battle over Greek financial obligation. But that doesn’t imply that the ongoing crisis won’t be described as a element in how the lottery terminal battle is resolved.
‘The delay doesn’t have anything related to the existing debt crises apart from maybe OPAP playing hardball because of the regulators hoping because they need the new tax revenue,’ said Todd Eilers of Eilers Research that they will cave.
IGT, Scientific Games Could Lose Revenue
If this is simply a tactic that is negotiating the component of OPAP, maybe it’s a costly one for slot machine game manufacturers like IGT and Scientific Games. Both of the companies were terminals that are producing the Geek market, and the delays could potentially cost those two organizations millions in revenue.
IGT was awarded a vendor contract to supply 5,500 lottery machines, while Scientific Games was slated to make 5,000 machines for the market. Two European manufacturers, Inspired Gaming and Synot, were additionally awarded vendor that is first-phase.
IGT was likely to make up to $30 million in yearly revenues from the machines offered to Greece, while Scientific Games could bring in as much as $27 million.
The delays and also the crisis that is financial undoubtedly brought some uncertainty to the Greek video lottery terminal market, but Eilers says that in the long term, Greece should still be a profitable market for manufacturers.
‘We nevertheless believe the VLT market will move ahead and represents a growth that is sizable for vendors,’ he said.
The negotiations on the future of Greece’s lottery terminals comes at a right time whenever much larger battles are being waged on the country’s financial future.
Greeks voted ‘no’ on the lending that is strict made available from worldwide creditors on Sunday, with over 61 percent of voters being released against the terms.
But that vote doesn’t mean that Greece isn’t willing to negotiate. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras claims that the Greek government is still ready to produce some changes to be able to get assistance from Europe, and asked for a three-year loan from the eurozone’s bailout fund on Wednesday.
$5 Billion Pinnacle Entertainment Takeover Is Odds On
Pinnacle Entertainment is having a banner so far as their stock price is soaring year. (Image: Pinnacle.com)
Pinnacle Entertainment’s share price rose to an annual high on following a revised $5 billion takeover bid from Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI); a bid that analysts say Pinnacle would be mad to turn down tuesday.
The offer that is new a rise of $900 million for a bid Pinnacle rebuffed in March.
The news of the proposal sent Pinnacle’s stock price up by 5.82 percent on the New York inventory Exchange, as investors took the view, shared by JP Morgan, that the takeover is practically a done deal.
‘We have a time that is tough a situation where Pinnacle’s board and management could create the same value in the same time frame that GLPI’s deal would, and we do not see the chances of a superior bid from another entity,’ JP Morgan Gaming Analyst Joe Greff told the nevada Review Journal on Tuesday.
Bing Crosby No On Board
GLPI, a corporate spin-off of penn nationwide Gaming formed in 2013, trades on the NASDAQ and has 21 casino and racino properties across the US, including the Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pennsylvania.
Pinnacle, meanwhile, traces its history straight back to 1938 when Jack L Warner, mind of the Warner Brothers Studio, opened the Hollywood Park Racetrack. Initial shareholders in the company included Walt Disney and Bing Crosby.
The group was known as Hollywood Park Entertainment, and later Hollywood Park Inc, before it changed its title to Pinnacle Entertainment when the racetrack ended up being sold to Churchill Downs in 2000.
Today, it owns 15 casino properties in the US, along with a stake that is controlling the racing permit owner. Additionally has 26 percent stake in Asian Coast Development Ltd, the master and designer of the Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam, which has benefited from the current economic downturn in Macau, as Chinese high-rollers seek to evade the scrutiny associated with the government that is chinese.
Better Deal
In 2013 Pinnacle acquired Ameristar Casinos for $869 million and $1.9 billion of assumed debt, adding nine properties that are new its profile and really doubling in size.
Under the new proposition, Pinnacle shareholders would also be given a better deal; GLPI is offering $47.50 per share of Pinnacle, and would also give Pinnacle investors a 28 % stake of GLPI.
Nevertheless, the language GLPI has used, even its press releases, helps it be clear that this is usually a takeover that is hostile.
‘GLPI has committed financing in place and it is ready to finalize this deal immediately, and we would expect to close our transaction within approximately six months of signing,’ the company said in a statement. ‘Nevertheless, Pinnacle continues to create brand new demands, delaying the signing of a definitive agreement and denying its investors a value-creating transaction that is clearly superior to Pinnacle’s previously announced standalone separation plan.
Bwin.party Confirms GVC Bid
Bwin.party board says it may ‘see the prospective advantages’ of the GVC /Amaya deal, because it files another disappointing financial report. (Image: pokergruond.com)
GVC’s Amaya-backed bid for bwin.party ended up being confirmed by the board today.
Yesterday, The Financial occasions broke the story that GVC had made a $1.4 billion offer to acquire the share that is entire of the online gambling firm; today, the bwin.party board said it was considering the offer and might see the ‘potential benefits’ to shareholders that are bwin.party.
It had been currently committed to resolving a true number of ‘transaction-related issues,’ it added.
It is not clear whether 888 Holdings, which made an offer for bwin.party in March, continues to be at the settlement table.
‘Any offer made by GVC for bwin.party Today would include part of the consideration in new GVC shares,’ said Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive of GVC Holdings. ‘Based on the successful Sportingbet acquisition to our experience and restructuring, we think that the potential combination of GVC and bwin.party would result in substantial financial and running synergies and represent an excellent chance for both GVC and bwin.party shareholders.’
Amaya Offering ‘Some for the Capital’
Alexander was additionally in a position to confirm that Amaya Inc is supplying ‘some of the capital’ in the deal, and would therefore take ‘some of the assets’ should it go ahead.
It’s understood that in the event of a takeover, GVC would own the majority of bwin.party, while Amaya would acquire the business’s poker operations, thus giving it a foothold in the New Jersey that is regulated market.
It is thought Amaya would additionally be provided the choice to buy the sportsbook from GVC into the future.
The deal is a reverse takeover comprised of a combination of new GVC shares and cash, although all events have actually stressed that there may be no certainty that the deal will be accepted.
Poor Sportsbook Results
The news coincided with another disappointing report that is financial bwin.party, which said that unfavorable sports results had led up to a decline in gross win margins for the first half of the season.
The company’s mobile operations have grown, however, with mobile accounting for 31 percent of total gross gaming revenue in June, up from 23 % in the year that is previous.
‘Despite challenging comparatives as well as the impact of EU VAT and POC tax, we are happy with our business performance in the half that is first’ bwin,party CEO Norbert Teufelberger stated. ‘ We now have completed our brand new organisational set-up and streamlined our decision-making processes, significantly improving our operational performance planet 7 oz no deposit bonus codes 2019.’
Despite the poor sports book results Alexander remained upbeat about the potential of the bwin.party purchase. ‘It’s been a really hard market for bwin nonetheless it’s also been a very difficult market for everyone,’ he said. ‘ Through the GVC perspective, one which