European gambling group Novomatic has announced the completion of the takeover of Australian slots company Ainsworth, following months of regulatory processing. The deal continues the gambling industry consolidation, which has seen online operator GVC snap up UK bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral and developer BluePrint Gaming buy out Games Warehouse in the past month.
Several governing bodies, including the Nevada Gaming Commission and several Australian gaming regulators, have given the green light to the takeover deal. This will allow Novomatic to take a 52% controlling stake in Ainsworth, but they are unlikely to change much of the business or brand games and content.
Ainsworth founder and director Len Ainsworth has stepped aside and will leave the company at the end of the year.
Speaking about the purchase Novomatic Chairman Harald Neumann said, “The compliance investigations carried out as part of this registration were extremely thorough. They included all corporate divisions of Novomatic AG.”
“Our shares in Ainsworth are strategically very important for Novomatic. After all, the joint plan is to increase market share in the US to about 10% over the next five years. In the long-term, Novomatic may become the world market leader in the area of gaming.”
Industry insiders consider the move by Novomatic for Ainsworth part of a land grab, as the bigger players look to assert themselves in a consolidated market. The rapid growth of Scientific Games in the past 5 years has given major developers like Novomatic a renewed focus on growth.