South Korea’s KL Saberi slot machine brand is entering the South America market with a 40-machine installation in a hotel in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
That is according to a Monday statement from Kangwon Land Inc, parent of KL Saberi, and operator of Kangwon Land, the only South Korean resort with a casino that is open to locals.
The announcement added that – via an exclusive sales agreement with South Korean trading group STX Corp – KL Saberi would also look to target entry to other South and Central American markets such as Argentina and Peru.
A signing ceremony for the sales agreement held at the Kangwon Land resort was attended by Kangwon Land Inc acting chief executive Choi Cheol-gyu (pictured, right) and STX CEO Park Sang-jun (pictured, left), said the statement.
Mr Choi was cited as saying: “This entry into Uruguay is a very meaningful first step in establishing our position in the South American market.”
He added: “We will continue to increase our competitiveness in various countries through technological innovation of our products and continuously pursue market expansion.”
Kangwon Land Inc was also cited as saying it aimed to “widely publicise the Kangwon Land brand… to foreign customers in Central and South America and promote K-culture at the same time”. The latter was a reference to the global appeal of elements of South Korean popular cuture including K-pop music.
Earlier this year, the firm said that as part of it business expansion effort, it would try to target a greater number of overseas players.
Monday’s update said that since entering the slot machine manufacturing sector in 2018 via KL Saberi, the parent Kangwon Land Inc has been operating 330 of its own-brand machines at its resort, and has supplied a further 19 machines elsewhere in South Korea, and 62 machines in the Philippines.
KL Saberi exhibited at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia casino trade show and conference in Macau in June.
Shortly before the trade event, the company told GGRAsia it was interested on introducing its slot product to the Macau market.
