IGT Expands Spanish Footprint through New Orenes Group Deal

Posted on: March 10, 2022, 09:22h. 

Last updated on: January 24, 2023, 01:47h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

IGT has found another target for its gaming operations in Spain. It announced yesterday a new and exclusive partnership with Orenes Group, a leading games distributor in the country.

Orenes Grupo
The headquarters of Orenes Group in Murcia, Spain. The company is adding IGT’s “Magic Fortune Link” to its lineup. (Image: Stacbond)

IGT and Spain’s Orenes Group have reached an agreement that will allow IGT content and hardware to be accessed in the Spanish “salones” sector. Salones refers to small gambling halls and bingo parlors.

IGT Europe Gaming, a subsidiary of IGT, reached the agreement with the distributor. “Magic Fortune Link,” a multilevel progressive, is the first product to hit the market as a result of the deal.

Spain’s Salones a Lucrative Market

The Spanish salones sector has 3,000 bingo and gaming halls. These venues offer a casino-like atmosphere, and their operators have modernized them in recent years to offer more innovative gaming solutions.

“Magic Fortune Link” features four themes, Hephaestus, Temple of Fire, Golden Secrets, and Dreams of Egypt. IGT adapted the games to specifically meet the requirements of Spanish arcades.

IGT is well-positioned to serve salones customers in Spain by supplying our market-attuned games through our exclusive distributor, Orenes Group,” said IGT SVP EMEA Gaming Mark MacCombie.

These games offer players the chance to play a bonus game that features hold and spin link mechanisms. There are four levels of progressive prizes available to the players, including the highest awards.

Jose Quereda, Orenes Group’s Director of Sales and Distribution, added that “‘Magic Fortune Link’ [engages] Spanish players with its entertaining, regionally-attuned game mechanics.” He’s confident that IGT will deliver a number of “high-performance” installations at gambling halls across the country.

Spain’s Gaming Leaders Build Strength

The addition of IGT’s products is a big step forward for Orenes Group, which has been strengthening its position in the market. Last November, Orenes Group and R. Franco merged to transform Spanish gambling.

This merger created the largest manufacturer and distributor of gambling machines in the country. There were also changes in the online gaming operations of both companies as a result of this partnership.

The two stated that the merger was necessary to allow the heritage firms to survive any changes in Spain’s gambling market. Current federal laws governing land-based gambling venues are undergoing a few modifications.

Brothers Joaquin Franco Munoz and Jesus Franco Munoz founded R Franco in 1965. Orenes Group, a direct competitor to Franco until the merger, is a full-catalog manufacturer of all land-based casino machine components and systems. The company also owns a managed-services section for entertainment and gambling venues. Both have been competing for market share since 1968.

Franco and Orenes confirmed their merger by announcing that they would relaunch a strategy for internationalization to target fast-growth opportunities in Latin American jurisdictions. Orenes Group has casinos in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Queretaro.