Inspired will buy Novomatic UK’s gaming terminals business

Inspired Entertainment announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Gaming Technology Group (NTG) of Novomatic UK for the EUR equivalent of US$120.0 million in cash.

Inspired is a supplier of Category B2/B3 gaming terminals in the UK, and NTG is a supplier of Category B3, C and D gaming terminals to pubs, arcades, motorway service areas and holiday resorts in the UK.  Following the transaction, Inspired would be positioned to supply an extensive range of products and services across the UK and Europe, and beyond.  Upon closing the acquisition, Inspired would manage more than 75,000 gaming machines in the UK and Europe.

"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," said Lorne Weil, Executive Chairman of Inspired Entertainment. "We expect to leverage our superior game content, technology, operational capabilities and respective footprints to augment the existing growth trends for our enterprise."

NTG is comprised of the following six companies:

Gamestec Leisure – Primarily serving the UK pub sector through the placement of gaming machines on a managed service basis and delivering service support to the bingo and self service betting terminals sectors.

Playnation Limited – Serving the UK holiday and leisure industry, including holiday parks, motorway service stations, bowling alleys, airports and independent holiday resorts through revenue share arrangements with operators.

Astra Games Limited – Gaming machine manufacturer, selling Category B, C and D gaming machines to pubs, adult gaming centers, and holiday resorts.

Bell-Fruit Group Limited – Primarily selling Category C machines, both analog and digital, and exporting machines to key European geographies.

Harlequin Gaming Limited – Game development studio for Astra and Bell-Fruit.

Innov8 Gaming Limited – Gaming machine developer supplying Category B3 and C gaming machines within the NTG and to external customers.

Mr. Weil continued, "Inspired and NTG currently operate in different segments but have much in common in terms of providing resources for our customers and their consumers.  This combination would provide additional resources for our core businesses and combine the great content and machine portfolio from each. We expect to be able to deliver meaningful value to our shareholders as the acquisition is integrated."