Aristocrat Gambling Archives - Page 3 of 5

Aristocrat aims for iGaming supremacy with new iGaming division

May 27, 2022 by Admin

Leading Pokie machine maker Aristocrat Leisure has announced the launch of its new online gambling arm, which is expected to go live by the end of 2022. This move by the company will gain it a vital foothold in the burgeoning online gambling industry.

The recent development coincides with Aristocrat’s $500 million on-market share buyback, where the company returned a portion of the $1.3 billion it raised in 2021 for its failed bid to acquire Playtech.

Aristocrat’s new “real money gaming” (RMG) business will produce iGaming software for casinos and other clients.

New Horizons

Group CEO Trevor Croker said that the product would launch via two US customers in two states by the end of 2022 and that a third launch is expected in early 2023.

“It’s going to allow our customers to provide our slots to their customers through an online application where they’ll be able to play our world-leading games on their websites,” he said.

Aristocrat’s pokies are currently available in physical cabinets and on smartphone platforms, allowing players to win real money on the go. The RMG division will be its third channel and its first significant foray into the fast-growing US iGaming market, where online gambling is currently legal in 6 states.

Croker added that Aristocrat’s primary concern in this new venture is delivering an online platform for its existing customer base. Still, he did not discount the possibility of the company introducing a direct-to-customer online gambling product offering.

“There’s people that play across all different verticals, whether it’s retail, whether it’s social and whether it’s real money,” he said. “What we’ve seen today in the markets that have established those three verticals already is that there is incremental opportunity,” he shared.

Croker also revealed that Aristocrat is eager to participate if Australia’s government decides to allow casino gambling.

Aristocrat’s Dragon Link Pokie Machine Makes a New Millionaire

May 24, 2022 by Admin

A lucky visitor to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa in Florida walked away as a much richer person on May 16. The fortunate player claimed a huge US$1,307 076 jackpot from Aristocrat Gaming’s Dragon Link progressive pokie machine.

The Dragon Link $1 million progressive jackpot is available across three Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino venues, and this latest win is the third progressive jackpot over $1 million awarded by the thrilling Aristocrat game at the Tampa casino.

Many winners have walked through the doors of Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, with $800 million in jackpots paid to over 30 000 players in 2022 so far. This breaks down to 285,000 jackpots and one jackpot a minute for the year.

Aristocrat Technologies Inc. is a subsidiary of Aristocrat Leisure Limited and boasts over 6 500 employees. The provider is licensed in over 300 jurisdictions across 90 countries and delivers various products and services to its customers. The company is a leading provider of Class III and Class II games for Native American-owned casinos and other key markets.

Top-Tier Casino

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is owned and operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Today it stands as one of the world’s most successful casinos thanks to its award-winning gaming, hospitality, and entertainment.

Visitors are spoiled for choice with over 5 000 pokie machines, 179 table games, and a 46-table Poker Room. The facility also includes an AAA Four Diamond-rated 800-room hotel and an eclectic variety of dining establishments.

The casino recently held a massive job fair as it is looking to fill 300 positions across its casino and hotel spaces. The first 100 applicants to receive a job offer were also guaranteed to receive a $500 sign-on incentive.

Aristocrat lays foundations for new pokie machine plant

May 4, 2022 by Admin

Australia-based Aristocrat Gaming recently began construction on its new 265,240 square-foot pokie machine production facility located in Henderson, Nevada.

The property’s layout is split between production warehouse facilities and some office space.

Over 150 Aristocrat employees, sporting purple shirts were in attendance at the ground-breaking ceremony that was headed up by the company’s top brass and Henderson’s Mayor, Debra March. The facility is expected to begin operations in 2023.

Several other dignitaries showed up for the occasion, including Dane Hudson, the Special Projects & Grants Director at the Office of Senator Jacky Rosen and a couple of other district directors, along with Scott Muelrath, the president and CEO of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

Proud Progress

Aristocrat’s President of Americas and EMEA, Tom O’Brien said,

“We are thrilled to build our new manufacturing facility in Henderson as we continue to refine our efficiencies and provide the best product. We have complete confidence that our team members will use this new facility to its full capacity to create the best experience for our customers for years to come.”

Deanne McKissick, the Senior Vice President of Customer Order Execution at Aristocrat added,

“This will be our Las Vegas Integration Centre from which we will ship the company’s EGMs (electronic gaming machines) to locations in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and, Europe,”

The new Las Vegas Integration Center is not Aristocrat’s only project in the area. The company already operates a two-building campus in Summerlin, Las Vegas.

Aristocrat’s iconic legacy includes the highly popular Buffalo franchise, Dollar Storm, Dragon Link, Lightning Link, and a host of branded pokies based on properties like Dune, FarmVille, and The Walking Dead.

The location of the new manufacturing centre will be off Volunteer Boulevard at Pollack Street, sandwiched between the M Resort and the Las Vegas Raiders team HQ.

IGT and Aristocrat ink broad patent cross-licensing agreement

April 20, 2022 by Admin

International Game Technology (IGT) recently revealed that it had finalised a broad patent cross-licensing deal with Aristocrat Leisure Limited. This agreement includes prized patents for game features and remote game server technologies.

The agreement enables IGT to now offer licenses for the companies’ joint game feature and RGS patent portfolio to the international gaming industry.

At this point, there is no information available regarding the financial terms of the agreement.

Renato Ascoli, IGT’s CEO of Global Gaming said,

“This agreement extends and expands the previous patent cross-license between IGT and Aristocrat. This combination of two of the gaming industry’s most valuable game features and RGS patent portfolios can help propel the evolution of gaming with compelling content and advanced game mechanics. We look forward to providing the entire gaming industry with the opportunity to license IGT and Aristocrat patents, particularly the compelling content resulting from our combined RGS portfolios, in the spirit of competition and innovation.”

Aristocrat has experienced buoyant fortunes lately with Australian investment bank Citi sharing its opinion that the company’s mobile gaming business and new market opportunities make it an ideal choice for investors.

Aristocrat on the Rise

The financial firm elaborated on its stance in an official statement, saying,

“Aristocrat represents a compelling long-term growth story, with exposure to ongoing growth in mobile game penetration and potential to grow into new markets. The Gaming business offers annuity-like earnings through its Class III gaming operations. In Digital, we believe the market is implying at least three new hit titles across the RPG, Action, Strategy, and Social Casual genres by FY24e, putting pressure on recent releases to be successful. In contrast, expectations appear reasonable for the higher-margin Social Casino genre where Aristocrat is a market leader.”

This is a marked improvement to what was a somewhat disappointing start to the year when the company’s bid to acquire iGaming provider Playtech stalled and ultimately fell through.

Playtech heads level disinformation accusations at Aristocrat over bid outcome

March 10, 2022 by Admin

Both the sitting and former CEOs at Playtech have alleged that Australian gambling firm Aristocrat Leisure and its advisory team ran a misinformation campaign to shield its offer for the UK-based gaming group. The executives have accused Aristocrat of sowing suspicions regarding an Asian faction of investors.

The Storm after the Calm

Up until now, Playtech’s former CEO, Tom Hall, had held his tongue, sharing none of his thoughts around the pitched acquisition bidding battle that raged in October 2021.

Media reports began popping up in early 2022, surmising that a group of Asia-based investors had been influenced by Hall to collectively block Aristocrat’s bid for Playtech.

These allegations emerged from a report by a private investigations company and caught the attention of the UK’s Takeover Panel which launched an inquiry into the process.

Hall, who was Playtech’s chief executive from 2003 to 2005, refuted the allegations, calling them “rubbish”. He shared that, in his communications with the Takeover Panel, several falsehoods regarding important details in the report had come to light.

“As I explained to the Takeover Panel, I said I had never heard of, spoken to these people or their advisers,” Hall explained in an interview with the Financial Times. He added that other information provided to the panel, including that regarding the timing of his purchase of Playtech stock, was also erroneous.

Mor Weizer who is the current CEO at Playtech confirmed that the failure of Aristocrat’s bid could have been caused by “other UK-based tier-one institutions, certain former employees of the company including certain people that are still involved with the company” who shared the belief that Aristocrat’s offer was inadequate.

Competitive Times

Playtech, a back-end software provider to some of the biggest gambling companies across the globe, has been relatively inert in the recent industry-wide race to consolidate as operators sought to overcome a wave of tightening regulations in key global markets and to exploit the opening up of the US and Latin American markets for legalised wagering.

Aristocrat received initial interest from TTB Partners, an affiliate of Playtech’s second-largest shareholder and Eddie Jordan, the former F1 boss.

Once the company’s board approved the 680p per share offer, Aristocrat noted that numerous investors began buying Playtech stock at over 700p per share, causing the slot machine manufacturer to suspect that a conspiracy had been formed against its bid.

Among those who acquired or increased their stakes are Paul Suen, a Chinese businessman known to have funded Birmingham City Football Club and the previous owner of Wigan Athletic, Stanley Choi. The regulatory filings also revealed purchases made by Dublin and Isle of Man-based investors.

The aforementioned report mentioned casts suspicion on some Hong Kong-based investors, alleging that they may have links to organised crime. Aristocrat has declined to offer any official response on the matter.

Hall, who is currently occupied with orchestrating a management buyout of Playtech, shared records of his transactions in Playtech shares for the past 3 years as well as any contact he had made with Playtech shareholders with the Takeover Panel. He further revealed that he owns 1.34% of the company.

According to reports from an individual close to the investigation, the panel was unable to identify any evidence that any Hong Kong-based investors addressed were working in collusion.

Adaptation

Hall stated that he had been opposed to Aristocrat and JKO Play’s plans to break up Playtech if they acquired the company and that after the bidding process had collapsed, he began discussions with previous bidder, TTB.

He stated that he had approached Weizer earlier in 2022 to help ease Playtech’s introduction to the newly burgeoning US market. Weizer holds personal licenses across several US states that aided Playtech’s latest launches in Michigan and New Jersey.

The current CEO admitted that the failure of the bid could end in his resignation after 17 years with the firm.

“I understand the consequences and I understand they are also quite dire if it doesn’t happen but at least I tried to do what is best for everyone involved,” he said.

The two industry heavyweights, with support from TTB and a couple of major UK and US financial institutions, have pledged that they will soon be tabling an offer to Playtech’s board that surpasses Aristocrat’s.

Aristocrat’s offer gains support from Playtech shareholders

February 2, 2022 by Admin

Australian gaming manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure’s $2.8 billion takeover offer for Playtech appears to be gathering steam with some shareholders publicly supporting the deal.

Wes McCoy, the investment director at Abrdn PLC, which owns a 2.4% stake in Playtech, described Aristocrat’s bid as “a fair assessment of value and certainty of cash.”

TIG Advisors LLC, an event-driven fund manager with a 1.4% stake in Playtech has also reportedly voiced its support for the takeover. This fresh wave of shareholder support comes as Playtech’s shares felt the pressure of speculation that the deal might not go through.

The company recently pointed out that several investors, some of whom had taken material positions in the firm since Aristocrat’s approach, have not “engaged meaningfully” regarding their standpoints on the deal.

Backup Plans

Reports indicate that Playtech is in the process of creating a contingency plan to disassemble and sell-off its operations, should Aristocrat’s takeover bid be blocked by its Asian shareholders. These discussions are being conducted by the company’s directors and its investment banking advisers.

Chairman Brian Mattingley and other directors are purportedly alarmed by the prospect of a group of Asian investors who hold approximately 25% of Playtech’s stock combining their voting power to scupper the Aristocrat deal.

With the upcoming vote on this matter set to take place soon and requiring a 75% majority, the board and its advisers at Wells Fargo, Jefferies and Goodbody are preparing for the worst and setting up to auction off the company’s operations if the deal fails.

A Playtech spokesperson elaborated, saying,

“The board reiterates its recommendation that shareholders vote in favour of the offer from Aristocrat. Whilst Playtech has made significant strategic and operational progress and is in a strong position for the future, Aristocrat’s proposal provides an attractive opportunity for shareholders to accelerate the delivery of Playtech’s longer-term value.”

Also-rans

While Aristocrat’s offer is currently the only one on the table, the JKO Play consortium was also a contender, but recently withdrew its bid to acquire Playtech. Aristocrat took this as an opportunity to restate its takeover bid.

The operator released a statement in the wake of JKO’s departure, reminding Playtech’s shareholders that as the only bidder, its offer provides “full and fair value”, with “attractive cash certainty”.

“The Playtech board recommended acquisition remains the only firm offer available to Playtech shareholders, despite the substantial amount of time provided to potential bidders to make alternative proposals,” the statement continued.

Aristocrat’s offer stands alone as JKO withdraws from Playtech bidding war

January 26, 2022 by Admin

Aristocrat has revealed that its regulatory approvals process is making headway with the Australian gaming manufacturer’s offer remaining as the only one on the table for the acquisition of Playtech, following the withdrawal of rival bidder, JKO Play.

With the JKO Play consortium backing away from negotiations, Aristocrat is taking the opportunity to revise its current offer to its previous, lower bid.

In an official release, the operator restated its recommended cash acquisition offer to Playtech’s shareholders, stating that JKO’s withdrawal leaves it as the last remaining bidder and that its offer affords “full and fair value” with “attractive cash certainty”.

“Aristocrat further confirms that the regulatory approvals process remains well on track, and it is committed to completing the acquisition as quickly as possible. Aristocrat reiterates that the terms of the recommended acquisition provide full and fair value for Playtech shareholders, with attractive cash certainty.” The company continued.

A Long Road

The respective boards of Playtech and Aristocrat jointly announced a recommended cash acquisition of the former in October 2021, at $9.22 per share. JKO Play threw its hat in the ring in November of the same year, leading to speculation of a standoff between the two contenders. At the time, Aristocrat made a firm statement of its intent, saying,

“Our long term engagement with regulators across key gaming jurisdictions together with strong financial fundamentals, deep customer relationships and established presence in global gaming markets positions us to complete the transaction as planned in the second quarter of the calendar year 2022.”

As it turned out, a bidding war never emerged with JKO’s somewhat baffling decision to concede, as the company’s CEO had reportedly already sourced adequate funding for his offer from PartyGaming director and co-founder, Vikrant Bhargava.

Aristocrat closed off by appealing to the shareholders who are still cagey regarding their positions on the proposed acquisition, advising them to vote in favour of its offer.

“Aristocrat also notes comments in Playtech’s announcement regarding a number of material investors who have not to date engaged meaningfully about their views on the recommended acquisition. Aristocrat urges all Playtech shareholders to vote in favour of the recommended acquisition at the relevant shareholder meetings to be convened on February 2,” the statement concluded.

Aristocrat capital-raising drive inches it closer to Playtech acquisition

November 17, 2021 by Admin

Australian gaming provider Aristocrat Leisure has solidified its intent to acquire iGaming provider, Playtech, by raising $1.3 billion.

According to a report by Inside Asian Gaming, a retail entitlement offer, that followed an institutional entitlement offer recently concluded by the company, has helped it raise $895 million. The retail portion contributed $405 million with the release of 9.7 million new Aristocrat shares, valued at $41.85 each.

Aristocrat’s A$3.9 billion bid for Playtech was announced on October 18 2021, with the firm specifying that this would be funded by $1.1 billion in existing cash, a US$2.05 billion term loan and $1.3 billion in equity raising.

Playtech recently received a competing bid from Gopher Investments, which is currently its second-largest shareholder, however, Aristocrat appears unfazed and is forging ahead with plans to conclude the agreement.

Well Worth the Wait

Playtech was established in 1999 and currently operates out of Isle of Man. The provider boasts a collection of diverse iGaming content and software which is currently licensed by regulators in 30 jurisdictions.

On November 8, Aristocrat reiterated its interest in and intention to acquire Playtech in a statement that said,

“Our long-term engagement with regulators across key gaming jurisdictions together with strong financial fundamentals, deep customer relationships, and established presence in global gaming markets positions us to complete the transaction as planned in the second quarter of calendar year 2022. Aristocrat Leisure believes that this will provide certain value to Playtech shareholders while the combined group will also provide greater opportunities to Playtech employees.”

Opportunities

This deal will greatly boost Aristocrat’s presence in the global gaming market, although the company is likely to face some regulatory hurdles as its footprint expands.

The company is counting on Playtech’s business-to-customer division’s poker machines, sports, horse racing and online games to propel it into a sector of the industry that it has, until this point, left mostly unexplored.

Playtech’s European focus represents a lot of opportunities in a diverse market, particularly its business-to-business arm. The business unit in question is a platform and technology provider, servicing over 170 online gaming operators in the RMG sector, like the sports betting monoliths, Entain, Flutter and Bet365. Playtech’s selling point is its ability to provide a one-stop-shop for games management systems, loyalty and VIP programs, risk and fraud tech, and data analytics and game content.

Australia’s Aristocrat Leisure goes big with $3.7B Playtech acquisition

October 20, 2021 by Admin

Australian slot manufacturer, Aristocrat Leisure recently announced that it would be acquiring London-listed gaming software supplier Playtech for $3.7 billion. This deal will generate new growth potential areas for the gambling machine specialist, such as real money gaming.

Playtech’s shares responded positively to the news, soaring by 57% to a three-year high. Aristocrat Leisure’s shares are on a trading halt until Oct. 21.

The upswing in online betting, precipitated by the global pandemic has inspired many organisations in the industry to look to consolidation as a growth strategy. The UK-based Entain was recently courted by U.S. fantasy sports company DraftKings. Australia’s Tabcorp Holdings has also fielded numerous recent acquisition bids earlier for its wagering unit.

Playtech revealed that its largest shareholder, which holds a 21% stake in the company, was in favour of the offer. The company further advised that it would push for its stakeholders to vote in favour of the deal as the merging of the two companies would position the manufacturer ideally to flourish within a rapidly digitising sector.

Aristocrat’s Chief Executive Officer, Trevor Croker said,

“The business will be ideally positioned to unlock sustainable shareholder value by seizing opportunities in the fast-growing global online RMG segment as they continue to open up, particularly in North America.”

The Sydney-headquartered company also revealed that the deal would be funded via a $1.3 billion equity raising drive, in combination with new debt, and existing cash reserves. Aristocrat started that it fully anticipates a significant earnings boost within the first year of the conclusion of the deal.

This is not the first interaction that the two companies have had with each other. In September 2014, Playtech acquired Aristocrat Lotteries, positioning the company as a leading supplier of video lottery terminals in Europe and Latin America.

Aristocrat grows to the top

August 28, 2021 by Admin

Aristocrat Leisure Limited recently announced that it has secured a series of investments geared at broadening its iGaming development capacity, as part of its growth strategy. These recent deals will better enable the provider to align itself with targeted genres, chiefly the high-growth casual and merge markets, an arena where Aristocrat Digital already established a presence, and the social casino segment, which the company already holds a commanding position in.

The three new studios that Aristocrat has acquired, will benefit from the resources to cultivate their talent and technical capabilities.

Futureplay is a Helsinki-based free-to-play mobile gaming studio with a focus on the burgeoning merge/match 3 segment of the casual market. Since being founded in 2015, Futureplay has released six games that have amassed over 140 million users worldwide. These titles include Merge Gardens, Idle Farming Empire, and Battlelands Royale. Jami Laes will take the helm at the studio, reporting within Aristocrat’s Plarium business. The combination of Plarium’s world-class game development infrastructure and marketing know-how and Futureplay’s exceptional casual mobile proficiency will allow the Plarium to grow and differentiate its portfolio which includes the smash hit RAID: Shadow Legends.

Aristocrat found more than just one promising prospect in the region, snapping up Helsinki-based studio, Northern Stars. This developer’s focus is on the flourishing hybrid casual genre, guided by game development maverick, Minwoo Lee, whose illustrious career includes stints at EA, Rovio, and Ubisoft. Antti Nikander, also previously from Rovio will also join the leadership team and the two plan to wield their combined experience to grow Aristocrat’s presence in Finland and boost its game development capabilities.

Aristocrat has also acquired Playsoft, a world-leading Poland-based mobile gaming studio that excels at social casino content. With over 13 years in the game, Playsoft has created over 50 successful game titles for third-party partners. The studio will be run within the Product Madness division, retaining its extraordinary founders Nicolas Bensignor and Pierre Olivier Monteil in leadership positions. The studio’s purpose will be to expedite the Product Madness pipeline while generating innovations. Additionally, Playsoft is expected to help build a solid footprint for the company in a strategic European territory.

Aristocrat Digital’s CEO, Michael Lang said,

“These deals are consistent with Aristocrat’s successful strategy of bringing more world-class game development talent and capability into the organisation to expand our game pipeline and sustain our strong growth momentum in Digital. We are thrilled to welcome Futureplay, Northern Stars and Playsoft to the Aristocrat Digital family, given their impressive track records in game development, creativity and innovation. Coupled with Aristocrat Digital’s ambitious strategy, global scale, marketing and investment capabilities, we look forward to helping our new colleagues reach new heights as part of Aristocrat.”

“We will continue to be active in pursuing global talent and studio deals that accelerate our growth strategy, alongside our sustained proven focus in driving organic growth and above-market results,” he concluded.

Aristocrat Digital

Aristocrat Digital is the digital, social free-to-play games arm of Aristocrat Leisure Ltd.

The company boasts a staff complement of 2 300 employees across the globe in over 14 locations. Aristocrat Digital’s portfolio consists of premium, top-performing game titles across the social casino, mid-core, strategy, roleplay games, action and key casual genres. Three major operating businesses, namely, Plarium Global (Israel), Product Madness (UK) and Big Fish Games (US), make up the organisation, creating a formidable combination of creative talent, live ops and marketing capability with a laser focus on investment in innovation and growth.

Futureplay and Playsoft in focus

Since its establishment in 2015, Futureplay has followed its philosophy of reinventing the gaming experience with six innovative titles that millions of players all over the world have enjoyed. The company’s games are known for being player-friendly and accessible. The studio’s idle gaming catalogue includes Idle Farming Empire, Idle City Empire, Idle Crafting Empire and Idle Tuber Empire.

Playsoft is around 11 years older than Futureplay, having first opened its doors in 2004. The company’s reputation is built on its excellent live operations, full game development, porting and quality assurance, capabilities, as well as its self-published titles like Blade Lords and Tour de France.