Merger and acquisition deals barely surprise anyone within the gambling industry these days as so many of them have taken place lately. According to the latest reports from Australia, gambling operator Tatts Group Ltd. has been in talks to acquire INTRALOT Australia, or the the Australian arm of Greek gambling giant INTRALOT.
The operator itself confirmed today that it has been in discussions with the above-mentioned business for some time now and they have progressed to “a confirmatory due diligence” phase. Tatts Group, however, pointed out that no official proposal has been made yet and that the discussions may not result in a transaction taking place. The amount the gambling company would pay to buy INTRALOT has also remained undisclosed. People with industry knowledge valued the acquisition deal at an approximate of A$90-100 million.
INTRALOT Australia is basically in charge of monitoring hotel and club gaming devices across the state of Victoria. The company also provides regulators and tax authorities with important information regarding the performance of the said gaming machines.
Up until late 2014, INTRALOT Australia was in charge of the sale of lotto and keno tickets in the state. However, the company sold its Category 2 lottery license assets to Tatts Group, thus focusing its attention solely on monitoring gaming machine operations.
Last year, INTRALOT Australia generated revenue of A$26 million, up from the amount of A$14 million reported for 2014.
With Tatts Group confirming its interest in INTRALOT’s Australian business, analysts suggested that the gambling operator would probably renew its merger talks with rival Australian company Tabcorp. The two gambling giants first indicated that they were mulling consolidation of their operations late in 2015. Talks eventually broke down and merger did not occur.
Last week, Tabcorp announced that it would purchase gaming technology company INTECQ for A$128 million in a bid to boost its gambling services business. INTECQ’s board (formerly known as eBET) backed Tabcorp’s offer. The company is known for providing loyalty programs and overlooking gaming machines in 1,200 venues across Australia.
It is believed that with Tatts and Tabcopr’s latest acquisitions, the two companies will once again try to agree on a consolidation so as to secure their competitiveness in the rapidly growing domestic and global gambling market.
