Intralot provides lottery, betting, and gaming solutions, including technology and facility management services for 12 state lotteries in the US. Through the deal, Intralot will expand its presence in the UK online gaming market. It will also enhance its technology offerings by incorporating Bally’s digital platforms.

Meanwhile, Bally’s will receive a substantial cash injection to support its ongoing projects and alleviate concerns about debt among analysts.

The deal also represents a profit for Bally’s. The company initially acquired Gamesys (now its International Interactive division) for $2.7 billion in 2021. Investors have long called for Bally’s to offload Gamesys to unlock value and focus on US expansion.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Bally’s to Become Majority Shareholder in Intralot

The cash-and-shares transaction will include a €1.530 billion cash consideration ($1.8 billion). It will also include €1.136 billion ($1.34 billion) in new Intralot shares (approximately 873.7 million shares at implied value of €1.30 each).

To secure the deal, Intralot has secured commitments of up to €1.6 billion ($1.88 billion) from Citizens Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Jefferies.

Additionally, the company plans to raise up to €400 million ($471 million) in equity through a public offering on the Athens Stock Exchange.

After the transaction’s completion, Bally’s and its affiliates’ ownership in Intralot will increase from 26.86% to 33.34%. That will shift Bally’s from Intralot’s largest shareholder to its majority shareholder.

The transaction will also bring significant leadership changes at Intralot. Robeson Reeves, the current CEO of Bally’s, will also become the CEO of Intralot. Nikolaos Nikolakopoulos, the current CEO of Intralot, will transition to President and CEO of the Lottery division.

Additionally, Chrysostomos Sfatos, Intralot’s current Deputy CEO and board member, will serve as Intralot’s CFO.

Moreover, the Intralot Board of Directors will expand to 11 members. The majority will be independent, with the addition of Sokratis Kokkalis (Intralot Founder and Chair), Soohyung Kim (Bally’s Chair and Deputy Chair of Intralot), Reeves, and Nikolakopoulos.

The combined entity projects to generate approximately €1.1 billion in revenue, with a pre-synergy EBITDA margin of around 38%, and over 90% free cash flow conversion. Intralot targets approximately 2.5x net leverage and a dividend payout of about 35% of net income, with upside flexibility.

Deal Will Support Bally’s Finances and Expansion Plans

In connection with the transaction, Bally’s has secured commitments for a $500 million secured debt facility, which, together with the cash proceeds, will be used to repay secured debt. In addition, Bally’s has secured commitments for $100 million delayed draw secured debt facility, which will be used for general purposes, including the development of Bally’s Chicago.

The Chicago $1.7 billion flagship project, along with other ambitious plans by the company, has raised concerns among analysts regarding the company’s financial standing.

Bally’s Chicago is under construction, racing to meet Illinois’s mandatory September 2026 opening date. The project faced financial uncertainties for some time. Then, Gaming and Leisure Properties stepped in and committed $940 million to its construction, effectively saving it.

Bally’s is also part of a high-profile bidding war for one of three downstate New York casino licenses. The company’s $4 billion Bronx proposal is one of eight bids, with two existing racinos seen as frontrunners.

Furthermore, Bally’s has plans for a Las Vegas casino-resort at the former site of the Tropicana Las Vegas through a partnership with Gaming and Leisure Properties and the Oakland A’s, who are building a ballpark adjacent to the Bally’s property.

Despite these ambitious projects, Bally’s financial health has raised concerns among analysts. As of April, Bally’s carried around $3.4 billion in debt, while its market cap is around $500 million. The total debt-to-equity ratio has caused multiple downgrades to sub-investment-grade status.

Even after a 15% jump in the stock price after the Intralot announcement, Bally’s shares are down over 40% year-to-date. It’s also down 52% from its 52-week high.

Nevertheless, the over $2 billion Bally’s will use from the transaction cash proceeds and secured debt facility should provide critical financial flexibility. It will also strengthen Bally’s balance sheet as it pursues its aggressive expansion strategy.

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Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

A new president and CEO is being sought by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, after Stephen Rigby advised the board of directors that he is to depart the role after five years at the helm.

Rigby is to remain at OLG until the summer when a new CEO is confirmed, working with the new leadership to ensure a smooth transition.

“The board of directors thanks Stephen for his outstanding service as the president and chief executive officer of OLG. During that time, OLG has delivered unprecedented value to the Province.

“OLG’s returns have grown from $1.7bn in 2015 to nearly $2.5bn and are on track to attain over $3.0bn by 2022-23. This growth reflects a healthy and thriving land-based gaming, lottery and digital business.” – Peter Deeb, OLG chair.

Intralot

Lottery technology supplier Intralot has announced the appointment of Christos Dimitriadis as the group’s new CEO following a board decision that will see current incumbent Sokratis Kokkalis step down from the role.

In addition to his new job as group CEO, Dimitriadis has also been elected to replace Dimitrios Klonis as the executive member of the board of directors, with the former CEO Kokkalis remaining as executive chairman.

“I would like to thank the Founder of Intralot and Chairman of the BoD Mr S Kokkalis for the opportunity that he offers me to contribute from the position of the Group CEO. This is an honour and great responsibility.

“Intralot is a company with a great history and a promising future. We export technology, products, and services globally. We are proud of our subsidiaries that serve our customers and compose the multinational nature of our company.” – Dimitriadis.

Catena Media 

Peter Messner as been confirmed as the new group CFO of Catena Media, beginning his employment on April 1, 2020 when he will also be part of the company’s executive management.

Messner succeeds Erik Edeen, who as interim group CFO is said to be have “rebuilt and transformed the company’s entire financial structure”. Edeen will continue to support the company in strategic projects for the foreseeable future.

“With a well-functioning financial infrastructure in place, due to Erik’s contributions,
our playing field is now ready to welcome Peter as CFO. His wide-ranging experience
in key online media and gaming industries will fortify Catena Media’s operations in the
years to come.” – Per Hellberg, CEO of Catena Media.

Everi Holdings 

Everi has confirmed that appointment of Randy Taylor to the newly created position of president and chief operating officer, with Mark Labay appointed as successor in the executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer roles.

Furthermore, David Lucchese will assume the role of executive vice president of sales, marketing and digital, succeeding Edward Peters who has informed the company of his plans to retire following a 37-year professional career. The appointments are to be effective from April 1, 2020.

The Company has also announced that the board of directors has extended Michael Rumbolz employment agreement as CEO for an additional 14 months through to March 31, 2022.

“These changes to the executive management team fortify our leadership capabilities and are the result of our organisational development and succession planning initiatives. The appointments recognise the significant contributions Randy, Mark and Dave have made to Everi’s success, their broad expertise and their ability to successfully execute on new opportunities and to resolve challenges effectively and efficiently.

“Under Mike’s leadership, Everi has distinguished itself in recent years with its success and strong operating performance, while creating and fostering a culture that emphasises innovation and collaboration, elements that have become an integral foundation of our growth.

“These leadership changes will help facilitate our ongoing performance momentum and success in delivering future profitable growth.” – Miles Kilburn, chairman of the board of Everi.

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High 5 Games 

Chris Armes has become Chief Technology Officer at High 5 Games, bolstering the online casino content developer’s executive leadership team. 

After managing “several Fortune 100 companies over the past 25 years,” he moved into the igaming space six years ago. 

In this position, Armes will work closely with Jerry Wilson, who is in charge of creative strategy for game content and brands at High 5 Games.

Regarding the new role, he said: “I’m responsible for leading the development and implementation of the technology strategy for High 5 Games. This involves overseeing everything from building platforms to developing the technology behind H5G’s industry-leading games. 

“Another key process I must carefully manage and oversee in my CTO role, is taking fresh products and features through the rigorous phases of testing and deployment before they are brought to market for our customers.”

Continent 8 Technologies

Continent 8 Technologies has made a pair of hires in Asia as the global managed hosting, connectivity and security provider aims to continue building out its presence in the region.

This has seen Lalaine Vidal join as Business Development Manager, while Christopher Caturay becomes Technical Solutions Architect. 

Both will be based out of the Philippines and will be responsible for supporting the company’s growing customer base across the region.

Peter Williams, Managing Director of Asia Pacific at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Lalaine and Christopher are great talents and are a brilliant addition to the Continent 8 team in Asia. 

“This is an important market for us and one where we have ambitious growth plans that we are actively deploying.”

Intralot

Intralot has confirmed the appointment of both Richard Bateson and Konstantinos Farris to its board of directors and c-suite level of executives. 

Bateson joins the lottery and gaming technology firm as its new Chief Commercial Officer upon fulfilment of all related legal requirements, whilst Farris is the company’s new Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately. 

“As an industry leader, Richard has worked as both an operator and vendor within the lottery sector,” the group said in a statement.

Scientific Games

Three major promotions have occurred at Scientific Games, as the ilottery developer eyes up a stronger product offering for sports betting and digital services to its international lottery operator client-base.

This has seen Amy Bergette become Senior Vice President of Digital Solutions, Kira Summers promoted to Vice President of Operations and Planning for Digital and Merv Huber take on responsibilities as Vice President of Digital Growth.

Steve Beason, President of Digital and Sports, commented: “We are investing in people, products and technology platforms that give lotteries the opportunity to engage with their players across all channels.

“We’ve pioneered digital and sports betting solutions for lotteries since 2004. Now, in this next era we’ve redefined our strategic focus and growth paths to position Scientific Games as the global leader in digital and sports to help our customers responsibly drive revenues for their beneficiary programmes.”

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Elaborated on what is billed as a “landmark agreement,” the MDJS online portal, which launched on September 6, 2022, will see the former supply its OddsMatrix, GamMatrix PAM and CasinoEngine that will pair with additional content, such as lottery games, from Intralot.

EveryMatrix will also handle KYC and payments through its platform solution, and also support MDJS’ marketing and operational efforts through its managed services division.

Mohammed Karim EL Yaakoubi, General Manager of Intralot Maroc, commented: “With this agreement, Intralot partners with one of the leading B2B providers in the world today. 

“With Intralot’s strong local presence and a best-of-breed retail technology, we will jointly set out to ambitiously grow the online presence of MDJS with safe, responsible, and world-class quality products. 

“Intralot is the leading provider for the WLA sector today, and through our collaboration with EveryMatrix, we will provide better service to our valued customer, MDJS.”

With more than thousands of points of sale across Morocco, MDJS has now enhanced its online betting platform for the only legal sports betting brand in the country.

“This new agreement will open the door to EveryMatrix’s expansion beyond Europe, where we have a particularly strong position,” explained Ebbe Groes, CEO of EveryMatrix. 

“We’re committed to increasing our footprint in sports betting, especially in the WLA space, where our platform is a natural fit.

“The partnership with Intralot and MDJS marks a milestone for our sports division, and I’m beyond thrilled to be working together with such renowned names. 

“EveryMatrix is committed to supporting its clients and partners with the best-in-class technology. We’ll continue our string of investments in our portfolio to ensure Intralot and MDJS offer truly spectacular player experiences to their punters with the next step being the integration of Intralot lottery games for online sales on the MDJS website.”

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On the final day of 2020, the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos of Buenos Aires named the seven companies that will be able to legally operate in the province.

Legislators highlighted that within the Coalición Cívica’s request, in which nine deputies and senators mentioned two local businessmen, Cristóbal López, who is being investigated for corruption, and Daniel Angelici, former Boca Juniors president, were different articles in the online gambling regulation that could ban them from participating in the regime.

Furthermore, legislators urged the local regulator to ‘indicate how it was proven that each of these licenses complied with the established prohibitions,’ asking for the relevant documentation to be attached.

In order to participate in the process, each international company had to partner with a local operator. In its public request, the Coalición Cívica mentioned that López and Angelici to Atlántica de Juegos are associated with Binbaires SA and Intralot and Stars Interactive Limited, respectively.

The IPLyC had received 14 proposals, though seven were rejected by the Technical Evaluation Commission. 

The launch of Buenos Aires’ founding online gambling market will be composed of the following foreign and domestic partnerships: ArgenBingo BA and William Hill; Pasteko SA and Hillside Media Malta (bet365); Hotel Casino Tandil and Playtech Plc; Boldt SA and Cassava Enterprises Gibraltar (888 Holdings); Atlántica de Juegos y Stars Interactive Limited (Flutter Plc); Binbaires SA and Intralot SA; Casino de Victoria and Betsson Group.

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Boasting a local presence in 44 regulated jurisdictions worldwide, the partnership “will leverage state-of-the-art technology and unified player experience” in an attempt to accelerate digital transformation for gaming operators and offer a responsible gaming entertainment for players. 

Sebastian Johannisson, chief commercial officer at Evolution, noted: “We are delighted and honoured to partner with Intralot, a leading player in the gaming world.” 

The Evolution-powered live casino services are planned to be introduced in several existing and new operations of Intralot, with a view to debuting the firm’s entire suite, including its growing range of game show titles, such as Crazy Time, Mega Ball and Lightning Roulette. 

Nikos Nikolakopoulos, executive VP and group CCO at Intralot, commented: “We have always been committed to building a robust set of strategic partners to deliver an outstanding experience to our customers. 

“Evolution Gaming is a trusted member of our third-party ecosystem and we are looking forward to rolling out this partnership on many online markets worldwide.” 

Last week Evolution Gaming said moves to acquire online casino content developer NetEnt will represent an acceleration of its ongoing ambition to become the global B2B igaming provider.

Providing the update in its latest financial report, a series of increases were reported despite challenges posed during “an intense first half of the year” that has been severely impacted by COVID-19.

Making its NetEnt move last month, the proposed transaction sees the firm offer 0.1306 shares for each share in NetEnt, valuing each at SEK 79.93 and all shares in the firm to approximately SEK 19.6bn.

Evolution has stated that it will not increase the offer, with an acceptance period to commence on August 17, 2020 and expire on or around October 26, 2020.

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This comes in the same week that the state’s executive council voted to approve a contract between the lottery and DraftKings to set the stage for sports betting to launch.

Under the terms of the enhanced agreement Intralot’s US subsidiary is to provide sports betting solutions for the commission, beginning in early 2020 at over 1,300 existing lottery retailers in the Granite State.

“Intralot has delivered innovative lottery products and solutions to the New Hampshire Lottery Commission since it became a valued customer of ours in 2010,” said Nikos Nikolakopoulos, Intralot Group Deputy CEO. 

“The newly introduced sports betting offering to the state gives us the opportunity to deploy our next generation solutions and in-field expertise ensuring an unparalleled player experience for its citizens”.

Governor Chris Sununu signed legislation in July 2019 authorising the New Hampshire Lottery to conduct sports betting, which will be allowed through as many as 10 physical sports book locations, along with mobile sports betting.

The legislation was written to provide individual communities with the option to put the question to voters as to whether to permit the operation of retail sportsbook locations within their communities. The cities of Berlin, Claremont, Franklin, Laconia, Manchester and Somersworth voted in favour of sports book locations during city elections.

The sports betting legislation, which creates a Division of Sports Wagering within the New Hampshire Lottery to oversee sports betting, allows for mobile wagering and prohibits any wagering on the region’s college teams or any college games taking place in the state.

“Through this contract amendment to provide our leading sports betting technology, we will power the New Hampshire Lottery and will expand its well-established operation with new and exciting entertainment options while attracting a new demographic of players,” said Byron Boothe, interim CEO of Intralot. 

“We look forward to continue working together with the lottery to maximise sales growth and ensure increased returns in a socially responsible way for the state and its citizens.”

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The bill, that Mayor Muriel Bowser is widely expected to sign, paves the way for Intralot, the operator of the DC lottery, to become the provider of a sports betting app, rather than going through a bidding process.

As a result this also means that not only will brick-and-mortar facilities be able to have sports betting in their establishments, but online sports wagering will also be legal.

The motion to legalise sports gambling was brought up in September 2018, followed by a hearing the next month and approval subsequently being awarded by the council on December 4 and 18.

The topic was then postponed regarding the implementation of sports betting to a legislative meeting this week, when it was officially approved for the district.

Upon the legislation being signed by Mayor Bowser, the district expects to hold discussions with Intralot to finalise a contract.

However, not everyone was in favour of the bill being passed, with four members of the council voting against it due to concerns with Intralot.

Passing with an 8-4 vote, David Grosso, a DC council member, was among those against the bill, referring to approving the legislation as “a rush to tax the poor,” stating that Intralot is “a company that was recently downgraded by Moody’s” and also that since 2014, Intralot’s DC affiliate DC09 and its leadership have contributed over $41,000 to DC campaigns and inaugural committees.

“That is why, today, I’ll be voting against this emergency declaration, and the underlying bill, as a vote against Intralot’s rating downgrade, a vote against streamlining a tax on the poor and a vote against pay-to-play, and urge my colleagues to do the same,” he concluded in a lengthy Twitter thread.

The district is the first jurisdiction in the DC area to allow sports betting.

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In addition to the lengthening of its online systems contract, Intralot is to also proceed with the creation of a game tied to the outcome of sporting events.

Set to be the first lottery across the US to authorise such a title to be available through its approximately 1,100 retail terminal network, user are to be enabled to make selections from a wide menu of sporting events made available to them, together with their possible outcomes.

David Barden, New Mexico Lottery’s chief executive officer, explained: “Today we reinforced our strong partnership with our systems vendor, Intralot by extending our contract for another 2 years.  

“We also moved the lottery industry forward as we took the approval from our board to launch a sports lottery game throughout our retail network.

“We are convinced sports lottery games will provide new and exciting experiences for our players, while significantly increasing dollars being transferred to our scholarship fund for student beneficiaries.   

“We are always looking for games that strengthen our lottery brand, by attracting millennials and other new players.  Lottery games of this type are fun to play, and will move us in that direction.”

Via the new agreement Intralot is to deploy and customise its cross-channel sports lottery gaming platform, in addition to the terminal software, for the full New Mexico Lottery suite.

Intralot will also provide its fully managed services related to the game, including risk management and trading services guaranteeing the payout of the game, as well as a series of product and marketing services.

The firm is to also offer dedicated training to all of New Mexico’s retail network and lottery personnel, in addition to related system operation, software maintenance and supporting activities.

Antonios Kerastaris, Intralot CEO, added: “This is a special day for us, not only because we renew our partnership with a great client, but also for breaking ground with a new sports lottery contract, leveraging our extensive experience and our latest technology on sports prognostics, our first such venture in the US in the post-PASPA period.  

“I look forward to the new era bringing in all our lottery modernisation expertise, while extending my sincere thanks the New Mexico Lottery for their trust and continued partnership.”

The post Intralot strengthens US provisions via New Mexico Lottery extension appeared first on CasinoBeats.

The organisation’s first branded game launch has been added to by fresh entries into a number of global markets, in addition to a duo of Scandinavian deals, including inking deals with ATG and Svenska Spel ahead of Swedish re-regulation next year.

Commenting on the firm’s Q3 manoeuvres Fredrik Elmqvist, Yggdrasil CEO and founder, commented: “During the quarter we signed several high-profile customers, and our very first social gaming partnership in Asia through a deal with Taiwanese operator XSG.

“In Europe we signed, among others, Tipsport in the Czech Republic, Intralot in Italy and became certified in Spain – all important building blocks of our long-term strategy and commitment to expand our regulated market footprint.

“I am also thrilled to announce that we have signed with ATG and Svenska Spel in Sweden, and Veikkaus in Finland after the close of the quarter.

“We have also established a local presence in the highly important UK market, to improve our commercial reach to new candidates for our YGS Masters program.”

Total operating revenues for the period saw a 62 per cent increase to SEK 71.5m (€6.8m), contributing to FY figures of SEK 195.8m (€18.8m), a 66 per cent rise.

Earnings (EBIT) increased by 26 per cent year-on-year, reaching SEK 19.3m (€1.8m) from 2017’s SEK 15.3m (€1.4m), the margin did however fall to 27 per cent from the previous years 35 per cent.

Elmqvist explained: “On behalf of the whole team at Yggdrasil I am pleased to announce yet another eventful quarter, characterised by continued expansion and signing of several new partnerships.

“End user activity measured by player rounds reached 1,534 million during the quarter, representing an uptick of 51% from the same period last year.

“Revenues for the quarter grew by 62% compared to 2017 to MSEK 72 and EBIT by 26% to MSEK 19, representing an EBIT margin of 27% while being in a high growth mode.

“We continued to fully emphasise our expansional focus by making investments for the future, both in the business and into new products.”

Adding: “With the first nine months of the year behind us I am excited on the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“We continue to put full emphasis on growth and making investments into the organisation to stay at the forefront as a true industry innovator and to pave the way for our continued journey.”

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