Novomatic Put its Hands on CIRSA Slot Business

Austrian gaming titan Novomatic acquired CIRSA’s subsidiary Unidesa slot machine business, including the manufacturing and distribution activities, Spanish gambling news sources reported.

Novomatic acquired all Unidesa intellectual property rights, designs, patents and trademarks in the deal, as well as its complete inventory of the design, manufacture, sales and service. The new operation of slot machines, handled by the Austrian company, will be required to fully comply with the Spanish gambling laws.

Enric Barba, Unidesa’s general manager, said: “This transaction is an important part of our B2B division’s strategy to focus on the Spanish AWP market in bars, arcades and bingo halls and gaming interconnectivity systems.”

The managing director of Novomatic’s subsidiary Austrian Gaming Industries, Jens Halle commented: “We are proud to officially announce a further large-scale acquisition during 2012. This agreement to acquire one of the leading international casino manufacturers and distributors further augments our product and service offering.”

Halle emphasized: “Novomatic is committed to preserving the existing jobs in the business unit and welcomes its personnel as new members of the Novomatic family.”

CIRSA, a part of NORTIA Corporation, is Spain’s market leader in the gambling. A few weeks ago, CIRSA reported good business results, with its subsidiary for internet betting in Spain preserving it market leader position.

Austrian Gaming Industries, a 100 percent subsidiary of Novomatic, is one of Europe’s leading electronic gaming machines manufacturers. The company handles the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of its products.

The Novomatic Group is operating more than 200,000 machines in about 1,200 land based and electronic casinos through rental deals. The group also owns Austria’s leading sports betting operator, Admiral Sportwetten and online gaming company Greentube Internet Entertainment Solutions.