Penn Nationwide Scoops Up Illinois Gambling Operator, Posts Strong Q2 Financials


Penn Na<span id="more-6215"></span>tionwide Scoops Up Illinois Gambling Operator, Posts Strong Q2 Financials

Through its acquisition of PSG, Penn National will gain 1,100 terminals across Illinois.

Penn nationwide Gaming, Inc. will acquire Prairie State Gaming (PSG), an Illinois operator of video gaming terminals (VGTs), for a fee that is undisclosed. The company adds the acquisition to its collection of some 31,000 video gaming devices in 26 facilities across America.

While Illinois lawmakers squabble about their budget plans, with the resulting standoff meaning that big tax profits from the state’s VGTs will be held in limbo until they are able to agree terms, Penn National is looking to get its own slice of this profitable industry.

The deal, for an undisclosed transaction that is all-cash will see the Pennsylvania-based casino, racetrack, and racino operator acquire 1,100 terminals across a network of 270 different pubs and retail gaming establishments statewide.

Big Company

In Illinois, anywhere having a liquor license is permitted to operate a VGT, and it’s big business. But that reality has established something of a challenge to the state’s casino industry.

The VGT industry raked in $72.8 million in revenue in July, when compared with the combined $118.1 million in revenue of Illinois’ ten casinos, based on Fantini Gaming Research. For Penn National, which has three of those casinos, it’s a thought process of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’

PSG, which is one of the largest VGT operators in Illinois, produced almost $10 million in cashflow for the fiscal year ending June 30th.

According to Jay Snowden, chief operating officer of Penn National, the acquisition represents the phase that is latest in a long-term strategy for ‘growth through accretive acquisitions.’

In April, the company agreed to purchase the Tropicana in Las Vegas for $360 million, making it the operator’s 2nd Sin City property. The business first bought off the debt for and in of 2011 finalized its purchase of the M Resort and Casino on the South Las Vegas Strip june.

Penn nationwide currently runs 26 casino, racinos, and racetracks in 16 US and one Canadian jurisdiction, with almost all found in the Midwest as well as the South of the United States.

Positioned for Growth

The offer will further cement the company’s position in Illinois, said Snowden. ‘We believe this acquisition provides us a platform that is solid future development in the Illinois VGT market and potentially other states where this form of gaming is authorized.

‘PSG is certainly one of Illinois’ many respected VGT operators, having a strong track record of regulatory compliance and a reputation for reliable around the clock solution backed by among the industry’s many experienced teams,’ he added.

Penn National’s present performance that is financial made the investment community sit up and take notice. Its Q2 results for 2015 have exceeded expectations, bringing in revenues of $701 million, and the company says it remains favorably positioned for continued development into the half that is second of year.

Plus the purchase associated with the Tropicana, Penn State opened Massachusetts’ first casino during the end of June. Called Plainridge Park Casino, the slots-only establishment tacked onto the racecourse, and reported $6.1 million in gambling revenue in its first week of operation.

Optimal Payments’ Skrill Takeover to Complete by 10 august

Optimal Payments acquisition of Skrill has gotten the go-ahead from British financial regulators, as the payments industry looks to consolidate into the face of increased mobile competition . (Image: totallygaming.com)

NETELLER parent Optimal Payments has announced that its €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) reverse takeover of Skrill, previously Moneybookers, will be finalized next Monday, August 10, after having the green light from UK economic regulators.

Optimal received approval to acquire Skrill’s US business from American regulators in June. Both companies provide their payment solutions towards the new US online gaming markets.

The deal highlights a period of consolidation in the digital re payments industry, as competition increases and innovation https://real-money-casino.club/club-player-online-casino/ that is mobile disruption make the pooling of resources attractive. A month after the Optimal deal was announced in April, Skrill completed the acquisition of UK competitor Ukash.

The launch of Apple’s ‘wave and pay’ system on iPhone has spooked the digital wallets industry, which views the incursion of large non-traditional payment service provides into the payment space being a extremely troublesome hazard. The ‘wave and pay’ system allows users to load credit card details onto their handset, acting as a de facto e-wallet.

‘ Not a Defensive Move’

Optimal Payments has denied that the acquisition is a defensive move, citing constant growth. Instead, analysts have said the enlarged business, which marries two of the UK’s biggest electronic re payment services, will benefit from greater scale. It’s estimated the group that is combined have a cash flow of around £117 million ($182 million); Optimal’s standalone figure is around £58 million ($90 million).

The deal will alleviate both organizations’ reliance on the gambling that is online, consolidating their more main-stream e-commerce interests.

‘We’re becoming more relevant in the space that is e-commerce we see organic growth both here and in gaming after the deal,’ Joel Leonoff, chief executive of Optimal, insisted recently.

Optimal also would like to minimize its current reliance on an unnamed customer that is asian which reportedly now represents over 33 % associated with company’s product sales.

Online Gaming Payments Giant

‘Over the last four years, we have effectively delivered significant growth in revenues and earnings for the shareholders,’ said Leonoff. ‘This development lead from performing our strategy to generate high levels of natural growth and to supplement this with accretive acquisitions.

‘The purchase of Skrill will create a tech that is global within the fast growing digital payments space and we believe represents a transformational leap forward that greatly accelerates our strategic plan. The Optimal Payments management group is extremely excited about the prospects that are future the business.’

NETELLER was formed back in 1999, at the same time as PayPal. But while PayPal shied away from the grey area that is legal of gambling in America, NETELLER embraced it.

By 2005, the business was processing 80 per cent of on the web gambling transactions globally, which accounted for 95 percent of its revenue flow, but was forced to take out of the market that is US after UIGEA made the processing of online gambling transactions illegal.

Gaming Business Wants to See Regulation of Day-to-day Fantasy Sports

Yahoo has joined an increasing number of major companies wanting to break into the fantasy that is daily industry. (Image: Eric Risberg/AP)

FanDuel and DraftKings have actually turned fantasy that is daily from the little niche item to the quickest growing portion associated with the fantasy sports industry.

Now, aided by the valuations of each of these businesses reaching $1 billion or more, the video gaming industry is just starting to get sucked in, with some believing that the daily fantasy games deserve the exact same kinds of strict regulation casino organizations deal with on a basis that is regular.

Based on officials at many gaming that is major, there’s absolutely nothing actually wrong with daily fantasy sports (DFS), and they don’t really desire to see the offerings banned or restricted through the marketplace.

However, they believe that regulation is an important part of any sort of gambling product, one thing they feel relates to DFS sites just as much as it does a casino or racetrack.

‘we think daily fantasy sports betting should be appropriate, simply like I believe old-fashioned sports betting should be legal,’ William Hill US CEO Joe Asher told Reuters. ‘But let us not pretend one is OK as well as the other is maybe not. Drawing some artificial line between the two makes no feeling being a matter of law or policy.’

DFS Embraced by Leagues, Media Titans

All major DFS sites suggest that their activities are totally legal, and both DraftKings and FanDuel stay out of five states where they feel laws do not allow fantasy sports games to supply money that is real.

That argument appears to have lots of sway, as sports leagues and media organizations are both getting on board en masse: most leagues now have partnerships with more than one sites, ESPN has an advertising that is major content deal with DraftKings, and both Yahoo and CBS have launched their own DFS services and products in recent weeks.

But there are those who are going for a closer glance at the growing industry.

In Nevada, the state gaming control board is analyzing the legality of DFS games, although the industry thinks its quite clear that the contests are legal under a fantasy sports exemption into the 2006 Internet Gambling Enforcement that is unlawful Act.

‘When you begin offering day-to-day fantasy contests, then you start to blur the line between skill and chance,’ said Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman AG Burnett. ‘ When chance begins to govern the outcome more than skill, a form is had by you of gaming, and that’s as soon as the need for regulation kicks in.’

Lobbyists for the fantasy recreations industry dispute that characterization, nonetheless, saying that their games are clearly more about skill than luck.

‘ They’re not like games of chance, where in spite of how skillful the players is, winning or losing always boils down to fortune,’ stated Jeremy Kudon, a partner at Orrick who lobbies for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

For their part, FanDuel and DraftKings issued a joint statement for the Reuters report.

For the reason that statement, they said on the fantasy sports industry as our products are fundamentally separate from, and not competitive with, casinos and gaming organizations. which they work using officials in the video gaming industry ‘to educate them’

Lawsuits Target Free Money Marketing Promotions

But there are other threats to your industry also.

DraftKings is facing class action lawsuits in at least three states, including Massachusetts, Florida, and Illinois, from players whom feel they were deceived by the company’s aggressive advertising campaign, particularly due to misunderstandings over the nature of how deposit bonuses work.

And while the Fantasy Sports Trade Association believes daily dream games must certanly be legal and do not constitute gambling, even they’ve expressed concerns within the advertising promotions utilized by the 2 major web sites.

‘The money motivation had been never ever a important element of dream sports,’ said FSTA President Paul Charchian. ‘ Now a complete lot of the marketing in daily fantasy sports is actually exceptionally concentrated on monetary gain.’