Playtech, who are the World’s largest online gaming software supplier, have purchased online gaming games developer Ash Gaming in a deal worth £23 million.
Playtech have said that the purchase of Ash Gaming is a purchase of a “recognised industry-leading content provider” that would give them access to “more than 30 licensees” and improve their “wholly-owned content library and value chain economics” and complimenting their “technology leadership with additional premier content capability”. This basically means that Playtech believe they are buying a quality games provider that will enhance their product offering.
Initially, Playtech will pay £15.5 million for As Gaming with an extra £7.5 million at a later date for future earnings as there will be “incremental opportunities and uplift in margins for casino/games platform as well as poker and bingo side games”.
Speaking of the acquisition of Ash Gaming, Chief Executive Officer for Playtech Mor Weizer said he was “delighted”. He went on to say the following:
“It has a fantastic reputation with its licensees for delivering class-leading and innovative content along with a growing presence both in the UK and internationally. We have known the team for some time and they will provide significant benefits to Playtech both in terms of expertise and know-how as well as the potential for a number of incremental revenue streams. We are very excited about our plans for extending Ash’s games to a wider audience and throughout the Playtech casino product.
The business is demonstrating significant growth and we expect this to continue. I am confident that given the historic performance and current run rate this acquisition will prove to be very attractive for Playtech’s shareholders. Ash Gaming continues to deliver great games that operators want on their sites. This is key for many licensees where content is king and we strive to provide them with the very best games and a diversified portfolio to enhance their player experience as that maximises their player loyalty and player value.
At the same time, we see this as complementing our strategic actions by ensuring class-leading content alongside our leadership in technology. Together this makes a powerful combination and by owning significant games content we will maximise both revenue and earnings across the value chain. In newly regulated markets both in Europe and other territories such as Canada, Ash Gaming’s content is set to gain considerable traction”.
Ash Gaming, which was formed back in 2002, has over 40 staff and had yearly revenues to end of April 2011 of £4.2 million. This was a £3.1 million increase on the previous year. Chris Ash, who is the Chief Executive Officer for Ash Gaming, said that “the strategic rationale for Ash Gaming to combine its successful content with Playtech’s industry-leading offering was evident from the earliest of our discussions”. He went on to say the following:
“The ability to deliver our content through further casino, bingo, poker, retail and mobile channels will enable the combined business to grow faster and deliver a greater variety of cross-channel product to the operators. The combination of platform and game development will lead to Ash Gaming’s ideas coming to fruition earlier than would have previously been possible.
We are looking forward to furthering our already good relationships with existing Playtech companies and are excited by the opportunity for sharing best practice in product, technology, customer analysis and commercial areas of the business. The acquisition also provides greater opportunity for our existing management team and staff to continue to grow within a larger organisation”
Ash Gaming powers some very popular slot games such as Midas Millions, Captain Cannon’s Circus of Cash, Leprechaun’s Luck, Chests of Plenty, Alice’s Wonderland and the recently launched Wild Gambler.