Equipment supplier confirms the allegations with an announcement
An official announcement came from land gambling equipment supplier Shuffle Master Inc, confirming the rumors that it has closed a deal on the acquisition of the Ongame Poker Network from Bwin.Party digital entertainment.
The deal may turn out to be quite beneficial for the company, as Ongame is known as one of the biggest B2B online poker providers in the world, with a global network that includes more than 25 of the i-gaming industry's strongest brands and operators.
According to the Shuffle Master spokesman, the company pursued the acquisition as a part of its online gambling expansion plans, which include a strategy of expanding its online product offerings to capitalize on regulated online gaming, while operating purely as a B2B provider and not providing gaming content directly to players.
The consideration to be paid by Shuffle Master to Bwin.Party Services (Austria) GmbH amounts to Euro 19.5 million in cash, and is subject to certain adjustments at closing, with up to Euro 10 million payable in cash within five years of closing, contingent upon the commencement of legalised, real-money online poker in the U.S. within such period.
It has been stated by Gavin Isaacs, chief executive officer of Shuffle Master: "Our acquisition of Ongame will allow Shuffle Master to offer a scalable, proven and secure solution for online poker. Immediately upon closing the transaction, we will be able to begin leveraging all of Ongame's experience and expertise in i-gaming."
"I am confident that Ongame will fit into our ongoing interactive initiatives of delivering our brands to online gaming operators, partner web sites, social networks and mobile platforms. Poker is a natural fit for our table-centric online offerings and our many jurisdictional licenses present an opportunity for our current and future online customers."
On the other side, Peter Bertilsson, managing director of Ongame commented: "We believe that our experience and expertise in the European market is a natural fit with Shuffle Master's considerable commitment and history in developing innovative games and products for land based operators. I am confident that together, our organizations are going to be able to develop the very best in new and innovative solutions for the i-gaming market."
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