Bally Technologies to Buy SHFL Entertainment
In a deal announced this week, Bally Technologies will purchase the gaming company SHFL Entertainment, formerly known as Shuffle Master.
Deal with strengthen Bally’s international portfolio
Shuffle Master, a Nevada-based company that makes table games and slot machines as well as ancillary products such as automatic card shufflers – which the company is credited with having invented – has a stronghold in Asia and Australia. By merging forces with SHFL, Bally can strengthen its own presence in those markets.
Bally’s CEO touted the benefits both companies expect to enjoy as a result of the deal.
“Both Bally and SHFL have long histories of proven innovation, excellent customer service and successfully anticipating and adapting to changes within our industry, which makes bringing our two companies together a great strategic fit,” said Ramesh Srinivasan.
“SHFL’s intellectual property, renowned brands and industry-leading suite of diverse, high-performance products will enable us to offer an unparalleled offering of gaming products and services, which — when combined with our content, technology, operational capabilities and respective geographic footprints — will provide the most comprehensive product portfolio offered around the world,” Srinivasan went on to say.
$1.3 billion price tag
It was widely reported on Tuesday that Bally will be shelling out $1.3 billion to acquire SHFL Entertainment, or $23.25 per share, a 24 percent premium over the stock’s closing price on Monday.
According to Reuters, many nations in Asia are keen to replicate the success experienced by Macau, a Las Vegas-style casino resort mecca widely known as Asia’s premiere gambling destination. South Korea and Taiwan are both looking to expand casino gambling in an effort to compete with Macau.
Similarly, Australia is a country that is very receptive to gaming expansion. Being that Bally has very little presence in the Australian market, the deal struck with SHFL will provide them valuable admission down under, a location in which SHFL is already entrenched.
Both companies have long history in gaming industry
Bally, which was founded during the depression in Illinois but is also currently based in the state of Nevada, has secured the financing to complete the deal via a combination of banks, including Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.
For its part, Shuffle Master had previously been based in Minnesota, however the company relocated to Las Vegas in the late 1990’s. It changed its name to SHFL Entertainment in 2012 to better represent the variety of products it offered, making headlines that same year when it put the brakes on a planned deal to purchase online poker network Ongame Network.
