GGRAsia – GTech-IGT marriage ‘winning combination’: CEO

GTech-IGT marriage ‘winning combination’: CEO

Apr 08, 2015 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

The chief executive of newly-formed International Game Technology Plc (IGT), Marco Sala, on Tuesday said the company has high growth potential.

“Regulated gaming clients across both the government and private sectors are seeking reliable, secure and innovative ways to increase revenue and drive profitability, and IGT is the trusted go-to partner in this space,” he said in a statement.

Italy-based lottery technology and services specialist GTech SpA and Nevada-based slot machine maker International Game Technology officially became one business on Tuesday, using the brand name of the latter, after a US$6.4 billion cross-border merger.

The new firm began trading on Tuesday on Nasdaq in New York under the ticker symbol ‘IGT’. Mr Sala and the corporate leadership team of IGT were invited to ring the opening bell to start trading on Wall Street (photo).

The stock closed its first day of trading at US$20.08 a share, up 13.6 percent from the opening.

“We will provide top-performing content across multiple platforms enabling players to experience their favourite games across all regulated segments and channels,” Mr Sala said.

He added: “With a truly global reach, we will share expertise and experience both geographically and across market segments. The combination of GTech and IGT is a winning combination.”

The new firm has a presence in lottery services and technology, gaming machine supply, and social, mobile and interactive gaming. It conducts business in more than 100 countries with combined revenues of approximately US$6 billion in 2014, according to a press statement.

Mr Sala has been with GTech for more than 10 years, most recently serving as chief executive. He has two decades of experience in executive management positions.