Slot machine ticket printer maker TransAct Technologies Inc says Macau-registered electronic gaming equipment distributor Asia Pioneer Entertainment Ltd (APE) is to be a non-exclusive distributor in Asia of some of its products.
The deal covers TransAct’s Epic Edge and Epic 950 (pictured) – ticket-in/ticket-out (TITO) printers for gaming devices – as well as the company’s full product range of gaming device and kiosk printers for the global casino and gaming industries.
APE will distribute TransAct’s printers throughout Asia, with a focus on Macau, the Philippines, Taiwan and mainland China, according to a Monday press release from TransAct.
In addition, APE’s company facilities will become a regional centre for warranty repairs for all of TransAct’s casino and gaming printers.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership with Asia Pioneer Entertainment as we further expand our presence in the exciting and growing Asia gaming market,” said Bart Shuldman, chairman and chief executive of TransAct, in a prepared statement contained in the press release.
He added: “APE is a proven market leader with extensive gaming experience, industry knowledge and technical capabilities and we believe they are an ideal representative for our leading casino and gaming device printers.”
Commenting on the agreement, Allen Huie, chairman of APE, said the company was “excited to serve as a distributor of TransAct’s devices” across its “broad range of customers in Macau”.
“This agreement allows us to leverage our growing base of operations in Macau and become a critical partner for our customers as we service their deployed TransAct printers,” Mr Huie was quoted as saying in the release.
In late April Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed parent of APE, warned that it expected to swing to a HKD1.7-million (US$216,619) first-quarter loss, compared to an unaudited HKD4.8-million profit – before recurring expenses – recorded by the group in the first quarter 2017, a period prior to the group’s public flotation.
Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings started trading on Hong Kong’s small-cap exchange, the Growth Enterprise Market, in November last year.
Part of the firm’s commercial model involves acting as a clearing business for casino slot machines reaching the end of their life in the Macau market, in order to sell them on to other markets.
