- Inspired Entertainment announces potential buy-up of Novomatic UK Ltd
- This includes all businesses owned by Novomatic
- Asian markets remain Novomatic’ priority
Amid rapid expansion in Asia, Novomatic has received a buy-out offer by Inspired Entertainment Inc now interested in purchasing the entire business of the UK-based slot maker.
Inspired Entertainment Inc Offers to Buy Novomatic’s Business
U.S. gaming company Inspired Entertainment Inc. has stated that it would look to buy up Novomatic UK Ltd, which is part of the larger Novomatic Group based in Austria. The company is willing to pay up to $120 million for the acquisition, Inspired revealed in a press release.
The news was announced on Tuesday, June 11, with the company explaining that a successful addition of Novomatic’s business, would allow Inspired Entertainment Inc. to provide Europe with a range of gaming products.
Once the acquisition is completed, Inspired Entertainment will be in charge of 75,000 brick-and-mortar slot machines in the United Kingdom and Europe. Novomatic’s UK arm currently has a number of businesses under its roof, including:
- Gamestec Leisure
- Astra Games Ltd
- Bell-Fruit Group Ltd
- Innov8 Gaming Ltd.
All of these businesses, among others, will be transferred to Inspired Entertainment. The move would help the company consolidate its footprint in an iGaming market that is still growing. The Netherlands has passed a legislation that would introduce iGaming as a licensed industry in the country.
Meanwhile, Lorne Weil, Executive Chairman at Inspired had the following to add:
The potential acquisition of NTG is transformational for Inspired, enabling us to dramatically increase the size, scale and scope of our business by combining our highly complementary, but largely non-overlapping, businesses.
Novomatic Group Continues Growing in Asia
Novomatic continues to expand its operations in Asia where new gaming markets are slowly shaping up. Southeast Asia (SEA) promises to be a continuously attractive market for investors and casino software suppliers.
Cambodia, Japan and South Korea are the main new gaming destinations where international brands and software makers would want to seek an entry into. To showcase its portfolio, Novomatic will be attending the Peru Gaming Show 2019 on June 19 and bringing all its products to the expo.
As to the pending acquisition, Weil had the following to say: “We expect to leverage our superior game content, technology, operational capabilities and respective footprints to augment the existing growth trends for our enterprise.”
Inspired Entertainment Inc. is arriving in a highly contentious European market at a time while rapid expansion and tightening regulations go hand-in-hand.