Aristocrat completes sale of lottery business to Playtech

Oct 01, 2014 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News  

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Australian slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Ltd has completed the sale of its lottery business to online gaming software supplier Playtech Plc. The announcement was made in a filing on Tuesday to the Australian Securities Exchange.

The deal, involving EUR10.5 million (US$13.2 million) in cash, was first made public on September 2.

Prior to that, Aristocrat on July 7 said it would pay US$1.28 billion in cash for Tennessee-based Video Gaming Technologies Inc, a specialist in gaming machines for the tribal gaming market in North America.

“With the recently announced acquisition of Video Gaming Technologies, Aristocrat is sharpening its focus on the business’ strategic strengths,” Aristocrat’s chief executive Jamie Odell said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added: “In particular, we will continue to leverage our premium game content across priority, high value segments and markets, including North American gaming operations, digital and core outright sale markets. The sale of the lotteries business will allow management to focus on these growth areas to deliver optimal returns on the group’s design and development spend.”

The lottery business sale will result in a non-cash write off of approximately AUD45 million (US$39.1 million) in the financial year ended September 30, 2014, Aristocrat said in a previous filing.

Playtech, listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides software for gaming platforms including those offering sports betting, online poker, live casino games and bingo.

Products of Aristocrat’s lotteries division include video lottery terminals, transaction-processing systems and game content produced in-house and from third parties.

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