Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming April 2015 34 Tech Talk As an alliance of two distinctly complementary companies, the GTECH-IGT merger creates several unique opportunities, says IGT Senior Vice President International Sales Sabby Gill. The combined entity’s regional games lineup stands to benefit tremendously from IGT’s commitment to churning out alluring Asia-attuned titles T he US$6.4 billion merger of two giants in their respective fields is marching forward to its expected conclusion this month. The world’s leading lottery provider, Italy-based GTECH, announced in February that it had completed US$5 billion in high-yield financing needed to complete the buyout of the world’s leading gaming equipment supplier, US-based International Game Technology. Meanwhile, the deal continues to receive the myriad regulatory nods needed to create the world’s biggest gaming company—it gained US federal antitrust approval in August, got the OK of GTECH’s shareholders in November followed by IGT’s in February, later that month Nevada gaming regulators gave it the green light, and in March it was cleared by the High Court of the UK, which is where the newly formed holding company of the combined entity will be based. Also last month, it was announced the combined entity would adopt the IGT name and a logo bearing the distinctive GTECH globe and colors. Analysts believe adopting the IGT name is the right move. “Within the equipment world, outside of Italy, IGT has a well-known reputation that overshadows GTECH’s and, more importantly, can help grow market share going forward,” according to Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon. Union Gaming Group On the Cusp of a New Era analyst Chris Jones echoes the sentiment, saying, “It makes a lot of sense. The most important gaming markets, such as North America, Australia and even Asia, are more aware of the IGT name than the GTECH brand.” In Asia in particular, IGT has made major strides over the past three years with its “market-attuned” game-development strategy, which means a lot of things, but can be distilled down to the recognition that an appealing package, while important, doesn’t cut it if the game mechanics, the math and the cultural context aren’t all sound. It means garnering the ability to understand local tastes and preferences in some profound ways. It’s a strategy embodied in a lineup of new games rolling out onto markets around the region. One game that’s proving especially popular San Xing Bao Xi, or Lucky Dragon as it’s known in English, features a fire dragon in the base game who reveals random expanded substitutes to increase the number of awards, along with the Fu Lu Shuo multi-progressive. The combined entity will adopt the IGT name and a logo bearing the distinctive GTECH globe and colors.