Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming November 2014 36 Tech Talk Unique Intersection Following this summer’s merger mania among the world’s biggest slot manufacturers, Multimedia Games was pegged as the next takeover target, though few would have guessed the eventual buyer would be Global Cash Access. While analysts have questioned the wisdom of the deal, for GCA it makes perfect sense, expanding its business model and paving the way for a proliferation of Multimedia Games installations around the world C onsolidation is trending among gaming industry suppliers, but it’s taking two distinct forms. Whereas the giant slot makers have largely merged with direct competitors, peripheral vendors have focused on snapping up complementary product lines and even seemingly tangential ones. Global Cash Access, a leader in providing fully integrated cash-access solutions and related services to the gaming industry, announced on 8th September it was seeking to acquire Multimedia Games, an Austin, Texas- based maker of electronic gaming machines and casino systems, for a consideration of approximately US$1.2 GCA’s multi-functional suite of full service kiosks provide best-in- class cash handling technology, cash access, back-office reporting tools and marketing services. The CXC 4.0 , with a sleek new design, combined with powerful marketing peripherals and high-capacity components, delivers maximum velocity and unparalleled up-time. billion in cash. The proposed merger is expected to close early next year, and though it would bring together two suppliers of completely different products, GCA believes it will nevertheless create significant synergies. For one thing, it could help get Multimedia Games quickly into new markets. NYSE-listed GCA, which is headquartered in Las Vegas and based internationally in Macau, has more than 300 gaming licenses worldwide, a figure comparable with giants such as Bally and IGT. Multimedia has fewer than 100. GCA’s acquisition of NEWave, concluded earlier this year, was easier for the market to digest. NEWave is a provider of automated compliance and auditing tools to casinos, including anti-money laundering and currency transaction reporting tools. “In the US especially, and you’re seeing it in Macau and Singapore, there’s a focus on KYC [know your customer] and source of funds, audit trails,” says Darren Simmons, senior vice president-Integration for GCA. “[NEWave] have got a very powerful offering to help casinos make that process more automated and integrate with systems that they already have in place.” NEWave’s offerings made their Global Gaming Expo debut last month in Las Vegas as part of the GCA exhibit. Inside Asian Gaming caught up with Mr Simmons at the show to discuss where his company is headed globally and in Asia in particular.