Everi Holdings Acquires Atlas Gaming; Retains Aussie Staff
Ainsworth Game Technology is the first Australian firm that springs to mind when you think of Aussie pokie manufacturers. However, Atlas Gaming is another major producer of poker machines, although it is a troubled company. Those troubles look to be over with Evari Holdings acquiring the company for an undisclosed sum.
A group of five pokie specialists joined forces with mathematicians, games designers, and software engineers, and created Atlas Gaming Pty Ltd more than 20 years ago. The Melbourne-based company established itself as an innovative designer but fell on hard times in 2021.
Atlas Gaming owes $4.46 million to 24 companies and individuals. In addition, its related Atlas Gaming Technologies owes $2.46 million to its 18 Australian and American employees. It owes the Australian Taxation Office and smaller creditors $415,000. Atlas Gaming entered administration in October 2021 because it is unable to service its debt.
Jeff Kennett Owed More Than $600,000 by Atlas Gaming
Former politician and current President of Hawthorn Football Club, Jeff Kennett, is owed more than $600,000. Kennett holds 8% of the company’s stock following significant investment and loans. Atlas Gaming owes other directors Robert Sloot $108,000 and Alessandro Ciampoli $402,000. Ciampoli is the applicant for many of the company’s patents.
Kennett commented on the company’s situation late last year.
“The company set themselves up and worked very hard then ran out of money. They asked if I’d put some money in to keep them going and realise their dream, and I said yes, and I’ve done that on a couple of occasions in terms of increasing my shareholding and more recently in terms of lending them money.”
It is unknown if the Evari Holdings takeover includes repaying Atlas Gaming’s near $10 million debt.
Everi Holdings Keeps Australian Staff on its Books
Everi’s announced its acquisition of Atlas Gaming via a press release on its website. A spokesperson revealed Everi is getting hold of certain strategic assets, including intellectual property, and game development technology. Former Atlas Gaming development and engineering team members transition to Everi s part of the deal.
Dean Ehrlich is Everi’s Executive Vice President and Games Business Leader. he is delighted to have Atlas on board.
“We are excited to welcome members of the talented and experienced Atlas team to Everi. We look forward to Atlas’ game developers and engineers bringing a global perspective that will help us execute a more robust product roadmap and support our growth strategy of delivering best-in-class content.”
“This transaction strengthens Everi’s development capabilities and will further bolster the future expansion and differentiation of our gaming products. We expect to leverage the Atlas development team and purchased assets to provide more original content for our current customer base while creating an opportunity to further penetrate the markets Atlas has historically served, including Australia.”
Everi neglected to mention Atlas’ debts. However, administrators will almost certainly demand debts be repaid.
Who Are Everi Holdings?
Everi Holdings started life as Global Cash Access Holdings in July 1998. It was a joint venture of three payment processing companies The company specialised in providing cash services to gaming properties.
It floated on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2005, raising US$240 million ($334 million). Global Cash Access expanded into the pokies market in December 2014. It paid US$1.2 billion ($1.67 billion) for Texas-based pokies manufacturer Multimedia Games. The company changed its name to Everi Holdings in August 2015 to reflect its broader business model.
Today, Everi Holdings employs 1,400 staff, and enjoyed US$533 million ($742.23 million) in revenue in 2019. However, this fell to $383.6 million ($533.86 million) in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 related lockdowns. Its US$19.75 ($27.48) share price gives it an overall value of US$1.938 billion ($2.69 billion).
