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Authorities accede NOVOMATIC’s stake in Ainsworth
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NOVOMATIC’s stake in Ainsworth has been acceded by the authorities. The deal claims to be a huge Austrian investment and the initial successful registration of an Austrian gaming company in Las Vegas, Nevada.
With All the international regulatory approvals been set-up, it has finally materialised. NOVOMATIC acquired approximately 52 percent of the Australian industry giant Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (AGT). The formal closing which took place on January 5, 2018, was preceded by a series of meticulous audits conducted by various gaming authorities, ranging from Australia to South America and the US. A supreme focus was placed on comprehensive compliance checks that comprised not only NOVOMATIC itself but also the owner, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board.
Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd is a publicly listed and globally operating company based in Newington, Sydney, with offices branching out in numerous countries namely North and South America. It has emerged in the forefront as a leading producer and supplier of high-quality gaming solutions in Australia, Asia and the Americas. The shares were sold by former majority shareholder Len Ainsworth, who for over half a century has been one of the industry’s most respected figures.
The foundation for the acquisition of 52 percent of the shares by NOVOMATIC was already laid at the beginning of 2016. However, at that time the minority shareholders’ consent, as well as the required regulatory and antitrust approvals, were still pending. This hurdle has been overcome in the last two years as part of the most thorough compliance checks. With the granted approvals of the international authorities, NOVOMATIC has now not only achieved another milestone in its corporate history of success but also considerably strengthens its market position in Australia, Asia and the US.
The acquisition is of major strategic importance for NOVOMATIC as it grants the Austrian gaming technology group access to the huge US market. Alongside competitor Aristocrat, Ainsworth is considered the market leader in Australia and ranks among the top 5 gaming companies in the US. Both gaming empires were founded by Len Ainsworth who celebrated his 94th-anniversary last year – Aristocrat in 1956 and Ainsworth in 1995.
With Ainsworth being publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:AGI), the market has remained supportive of the transaction itself, as reflected in both Ainsworth’s share price and the broad shareholder approval of the NOVOMATIC investment. Upon closing of the shareholding acquisition, Len Ainsworth has resigned as an Executive Director but will maintain an advisory role for another year. NOVOMATIC CEO, Harald Neumann joined the Ainsworth Board of Directors in February 2017 as a Non-Executive Director.
With the deal amounting to the equivalent of around EUR 300 million, NOVOMATIC has crowned its successful expansion course of recent years. The Group has made consistent strategic acquisitions amounting to an annual average of half a billion. “We have made 150 acquisitions since 2009 – on average 20 every year,” said Neumann. So far, the acquisitions were within the range of EUR 20 to 50 million. “With Ainsworth, we have now clearly exceeded the EUR 100 million mark. Growing acquisitions are a direct result of global consolidation in the gaming market,” he explains.
“With the majority acquisition of Ainsworth, we continue our consistent international growth strategy. In addition to increasing our market share in some highly competitive regions, we also clearly focus on the synergetic transfer of know-how, content and high-tech gaming equipment. Among the core competencies of Ainsworth are for example the Jackpot systems. The takeover will add great diversity to our European product portfolio, and it grants Ainsworth access to our huge game library,” continued Neumann. Initial R&D cooperation was already taken up in the course of last year.
Ainsworth Chairman, Graeme Campbell also highlighted the benefits of the deal: “The now finalised NOVOMATIC majority entry is a historically important day for Ainsworth and marks the next step in the company’s development in that we now have a new, international majority partner. This partnership strengthens AGT by providing us with the resources to better compete with our highly regarded gaming technologies and international competition expertise. We appreciate the support of NOVOMATIC and look forward to delivering benefits for all shareholders in the future.”
The declared goal of the cooperation is to jointly design highly competitive products for the US – a market with nearly one million gaming machines in operation. In a first step, Ainsworth products and technologies will diversify the European market. The combined strengths of the NOVOMATIC Americas headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, and the Ainsworth facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be the basis for the targeted US market share of 10 percent over the next five years. In this context, NOVOMATIC particularly relies on the Ainsworth sales network, licensing rights for all US federal states, and target group-specific expertise. In addition, this strategic positioning will tap new potentials in South America.
Meanwhile, NOVOMATIC is particularly proud to have excelled all regulatory checks at the end of December 2017. “This makes NOVOMATIC one of the few internationally active companies to have passed such examinations in order to be granted green lights for the acquisition,” added Neumann. A highlight is the successful approval of the transaction by the Nevada gaming authorities. This is the first time for an Austrian company to be registered in the global gaming hub of Nevada.
Neumann confirms: “In the course of this registration all compliance aspects were thoroughly audited – including all parts of NOVOMATIC AG.” The majority acquisition of AGT is also the largest investment to date of an Austrian company in Australia. And it is an investment that significantly increases the gaming technology Group’s stake in the global gaming market. This step – along with others – is intended to make NOVOMATIC the global market leader in the field of high-tech gaming technology in the long-term.
Source: European Gaming Media and Events
A partnership between game developer Turbo Games and iGaming solution provider and aggregator Slotegrator began in November 2022 via the APIgrator game integration solution. Since then, the collaboration has been developing successfully — and now it’s time to analyze what made it successful.
Turbo Games has noticed how the new technologies spreading throughout the industry can work for the good of brand transparency and player loyalty: “We can already see how blockchain technology has made it possible to make betting checks more accessible to players. All you need is a blockchain-hash and a decoder service. We think we will continue to move in this direction. Many traditional online casinos do not offer the possibility to check the bet. Sooner or later we all have to come to this. Perhaps the development of artificial intelligence will help here, because we are already seeing its involvement in all spheres of human life.”
Turbo Games specializes in provably fair games. Provable fairness is a concept where players can verify their wins or losses using blockchain technology — the outcome of the game is dictated by a smart contract and is absolutely random, barring the possibility of any human involvement. Using cryptographic hashing algorithms, the gambling site and the player’s device both generate seeds (random strings of numbers). Players receive a key that allows them to check the results; if the results are the same as the game round they witnessed, it proves that there was no foul play.
According to statistics from Turbo Games, the audience for provably fair games is mostly between 18 and 25 years old. However, there are also players aged 35-40 who prefer traditional games but would like to try something new, and have turned their attention to provably fair games.
There are good odds that the technology of provably fair games will become more popular, if not even commonplace, because it gives players a feeling of transparency and proves that the business is trustworthy without the need to search through dozens of reviews. Whereas many innovations in iGaming simply add entertainment, provable fairness addresses security concerns and reassures players that they’re not being exploited, which is invaluable.
Provably fair games are beneficial for both players and online casinos. Vadim Potapenko, Head of Sales at Turbo Games, comments: “It often happens that the users are not satisfied with the result, because gambling is not only about big wins, but also possible losses. By allowing them to check the fairness of a bet, we make life easier for platforms and players. Of course, this allows us to communicate with partners and users that we work honestly and that’s why they should trust our games.”
Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, adds that “this type of game is now becoming more and more popular and has great potential for both players and game providers in the future. On the part of the player, the advantage is that the player can always be sure that his game is fair and he can independently check any of his bets. And for the game provider, this also simplifies the process of implementing casino games, since now it will not be necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates from independent laboratories before launching new games, they can immediately enter the market with these games and where anyone can check the result and make sure that that there is no cheating with players. Many game providers are starting to look towards this type of game. And as far as I see, many operators are starting to think about adding these games.”
What do players in 2023 need? The iGaming industry is all about reputation and trust. Players have a huge number of platforms to choose from, making them pickier and pickier. There’s an abundance of forums where players leave reviews, so if players view a brand as untrustworthy, there are plenty of places they can share their opinion. Provable fairness not only stops that from happening, it provides evidence to the contrary, giving players something else to talk about.
Slotegrator also recommends investing time and effort into localization and creating an effective and detailed marketing strategy — before trying provably fair technology players need to get to the platform, and there is no acquisition without marketing.
ABOUT SLOTEGRATOR
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
ABOUT TURBO GAMES
Turbo Games — a provably fair games provider that belongs to Turbo Stars company — has an ambitious goal to establish widespread recognition throughout the iGaming world. Even though it is young, the company consists of professionals who have been working on the brand for over five years and are even planning to introduce a new brand for a wider audience soon.
Turbo Games also works in Europe, India, and South Africa, where the company sees the most potential and expects the same “hype” as in Brazil.
The portfolio of Turbo Games consists of 21 titles, including well-known games like Mines, Crash X, DoubleRoll, Hi-Lo, and Plinko. The studio releases a game every month. However, not all games are developed from scratch. Wicket Blast and Spin Strike, the last two releases, are based on cricket and the Indian Premier League. Crash X remains the most popular fast game in the Turbo Games portfolio, and the studio reports that crash games enjoy stable levels of popularity. Overall, the main focus of the brand is provably fair games.
More information: https://turbogames.io/
Looking to take your career to the next level in the games industry? Then, Nordic Game Talents is the place to be! Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
From Oct 27-29, the online and interactive event is dedicated to recruitment and career building in the creative & games industry within the Nordic region. The event empowers participants to be part of a bigger community and motivates them to explore new paths in achieving their career goals.
Hiring creative & games studios – Supercell, Funcom, Panzerdog, Tactile Games, Gamecan, Fingersoft, Dazzle Rocks, Redhill Games to name a few from the Nordic region will be participating in the event. These studios will share information on their latest projects, work culture and what it takes to be part of their team. The individual games associations from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia will share insights through live sessions on the booming games industry in their respective countries. Career development topics pertinent to job seekers like – How to have a successful first interview, Creative Portfolio reviews will also be discussed.
Experienced game industry professionals and individuals beginning their careers from around the world are welcome to join the event. One-to-one interviews with the hiring studios can be scheduled through the event platform. A great opportunity to get to know the studios and network with game professionals from around the world.
Participating in the event
As a job seeker attending Nordic Game Talents, take a few minutes to fill out a simple registration form. After filling the registration form you will receive a link to the online event platform – PINE, to join the event on 27th October. Participants joining Nordic Game Talents will also receive a free-of-charge pass to the Nordic Game Conference.
To view the complete agenda, please click here and to learn more about the event please visit Games Job Fair
About Games Factory Talents
A Helsinki-based talent attraction agency dedicated to the games & creative industry. Our services include direct recruitment, organizing game job fairs and managing a community of game industry professionals through our GameDev Talent Board.
To learn more about Games Factory Talents visit – Games Factory Talents
810 THE SPREAD
Cumulus Media Launches 810 THE SPREAD, the Bay Area’s First Sports Station Focused on Sports Betting
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has launched the Bay Area’s first Sports radio station focused on sports betting, 810 THE SPREAD. The new station brings sports and sports betting news, information, and insights to the burgeoning and underserved sports betting audience in San Francisco. 810 THE SPREAD will deliver behind-the-book perspectives from experts in a highly entertaining and engaging format. 810 THE SPREAD goes live today on the legendary 810am frequency that has been the 80-year home of historic Talk Radio KGO-AM. Cumulus San Francisco also launched the station’s new website at www.810thespread.com. Kevin Graham, Program Director of Cumulus’ sister sports stations KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT, adds Program Director duties for 810 THE SPREAD.
Larry Blumhagen, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “810 THE SPREAD joins our sports brands KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT for a trifecta of dynamic sports content across four signals and streaming everywhere. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to serving the Bay Area’s passionate sports fans in an incomparable way.”
Blumhagen added: “This is a bittersweet day for us, as it’s hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners’ lives for so many years. We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO’s historic run these many years – and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Kevin Graham, Program Director, 810 THE SPREAD, said: “810 THE SPREAD will be the Bay Area’s best bet for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts, and we are pleased to introduce sports-betting radio to our community. The station will feature a lineup of expert personalities that deliver unique sports talk and sports betting insights that entertain, inform, and engage, along with Cal Football and Basketball as well as select professional and college sports play-by-play events. While 810 THE SPREAD will feature specific gambling information, we believe our entertaining presentation will make it a favorite for all Bay area sports fans and a perfect complement to the legendary KNBR and KTCT. With its addition, it truly shows Cumulus’ commitment to the Bay area as ‘The Sports Leader’!”
The weekday programming lineup for 810 THE SPREAD includes:
6am-9am – Bet QL Daily – The must-consume show for sports fans and betting fans alike. Hosted by Joe Ostrowski, Joe Giglio, and Erin Hawksworth.
9am-12pm – Jim Rome - Aggressive, informed sports opinions, rapid-fire dialogue, and plenty of sports smack. As one of the most prolific sports talk hosts in America, Rome draws massive tune-in with legions of fans known as clones, who live for Rome’s take on the day’s largest issues in sports.
12pm-4pm – You Better You Bet – Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley have you covered for the best bets on the biggest matchups, the latest line movement and updates in the futures market. We’ll have up-to-the-minute coverage of backdoor covers and bad beats, and the cheers and tears that come with them. It’s sports betting conversation like you’ve never heard before.
4pm-8pm – Bet MGM Tonight – Live sports betting updates for all the night’s games as they happen – plus live “look-ins” for Major League Baseball games in progress. Get the latest scores, sides, totals, props, parlays, futures, and much more with hosts Quinton Mayo, Trysta Krick, and Ryan Horvat.
8pm-12 Midnight – CBS Sports Radio
BetQL Network programming is provided by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One through a partnership with Audacy.
For more information or to stream 810 THE SPREAD, visit: http://www.810thespread.com.
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