GGRAsia – Scientific Games seeks US$2.9 bln in note offer

Scientific Games seeks US$2.9 bln in note offer

Nov 06, 2014 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

Nasdaq-listed Scientific Games Corp has announced a US$2.9 billion note offer via wholly owned subsidiary Scientific Games International Inc. The money will be used to finance the acquisition of Bally Technologies Inc, the firm said in a filing on Wednesday.

The company, a specialist in lottery equipment and lottery management, plans to offer US$700 million of senior secured notes due in 2021 and US$2.2 billion of senior unsecured notes due in 2022, via a private offering.

Scientific Games announced in August it was acquiring fellow gaming equipment maker Bally Technologies in a deal valued at US$5.1 billion. In September, the schedule for the completion of the merger was brought forward to end-2014. The deal was initially scheduled to be closed in early 2015.

Last week, Scientific Games president and chief executive Gavin Isaacs dismissed commentary suggesting the company was facing problems in financing the acquisition deal.

Bloomberg News had previously reported that banks led by JPMorgan Chase & Co had put off syndicating US$3.19 billion of loans for Scientific Games to finance the Bally Technologies acquisition, quoting unnamed sources. That was after the banks, hired to underwrite and sell a bridge loan to finance the deal, failed to attract sufficient interest from investors, the media outlet reported.