GTECH Completes Purchase of IGT

Posted on: April 7, 2015, 02:29h. 

Last updated on: April 7, 2015, 02:29h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

GTECH has formally completed their takeover of International Game Technology, putting the finishing touches on a $6.4 billion purchase that will result in a new, combined company.

The new company will retain the IGT name, but will now be publically traded and based on London, while most of the high-level management will come from the former GTECH.

GTECH, an Italian firm, ended trading on the Italian Stock Exchange last Thursday. The new IGT will now be majority-owned by Italy’s De Agostini Group.

Shares in IGT are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday under the ticker symbol of IGT.

“We are pleased to welcome IGT to the NYSE,” said NYSE Group President Thomas Farley. “IGT is a premier global gaming operator shaping the future of entertainment and gaming, and an excellent addition to the NYSE’s community of the world’s leading companies.”

Executives from IGT Joining GTECH Team

While GTECH may provide most of the management team, the new company will try to draw on the experience of both firms.

Former IGT CEO Patti Hart will have a prominent position as vice chairman on the board of the new company, while former IGT chairman Phil Satre will retain that title on the new combined company’s board.

On the other hand, the new company’s CEO will be Marco Sala, who is retaining the position he held at GTECH.

For the employees who worked for the old IGT, there should be few changes, at least in the near future. According to Sala, it is important to GTECH that the new IGT keeps the value of the brand’s identity intact.

“It was an important conversation. It is iconic,” Sala said of the IGT name in a conversation with the Reno Gazette-Journal. “We look at it with the two names: GTECH for gaming technology and IGT for information technology. We are truly a company retaining IGT.”

IGT Will Continue to Manufacture Products in Reno

That conversation focused on whether there would be any threat to the employees who currently manufacture IGT products in Reno.

Sala said that Reno would remain the “manufacturing harbor” for IGT’s gaming business, and that the new IGT would add to the previous company without taking away what made the firm special.

“We’re putting in teams of different experiences, and some guys will join Nevada,” Sala said. “I think these combinations will bring new ideas for future innovation. That is what we intend to pursue.”

IGT became a major manufacturer of video poker machines and slot machines in the 1980s, when it became one of the first firms to offer a way to track players, which in turn allowed for more robust player reward programs at casinos.

The company has since been responsible for a number of technological innovations in the world of slot machines, and currently manufactures about half of all slot machines in the United States.

According to Sala, the combination of GTECH and IGT should allow those popular IGT products to easily enter even more markets in the future.

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