Nevada gaming board recommends license for Sega subsidiaries
Video baccarat. Pachinko. A skill-based slot machine on which players can stop the reels as they spin.
They could be headed in Nevada’s direction after the state Gaming Control Board on Wednesday unanimously approved a recommendation to license Tokyo-based Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. and Sega Sammy Creation Inc., subsidiaries of the giant Japanese video game company.
The action, which will be considered for final approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Nov. 16, was part of a meeting with a distinctive international flavor with companies from Japan, Austria, Australia and Great Britain seeking various approvals.
If approved by the commission, Sega would be licensed as manufacturer and distributor of games in Nevada.
Board members questioned company executives, including Chairman and CEO Hajime Satomi, through an interpreter.
Pachislo
Executives say they’ll explore the Nevada market, particularly now that the state has legalized skill-based games. That could open the door to offering pachislo, a video slot machine on which a player can control the stoppage of spinning reels.
Sega could also deliver pachinko, a type of pinball machine popular in Japan, and a video version of baccarat, a table game played up and down the Strip, favored by Asian high-rollers.
Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said changes approved by the Nevada Legislature in 2015 paid off with the Sega proposal.
“It’s a result of what we’ve done over the past two years, changing our laws to provide different kinds of gaming, including skill-based, and doing the regulations,” Burnett said in an interview “I think this company heard about those regulations and want to make an attempt and I welcome that. Of course, every company stands to succeed or fail on its own, but I think that new blood and that new competition is always good.”
The board also unanimously recommended approval for licensing Novomatic AG, Gumpoldskirchen, Austria, and for it to invest in Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd. of Australia.
Novomatic, with 25,000 employees, has 260,000 machines at 2,100 locations in 45 countries, manufactures slot machines and also provides lottery terminals and sports wagering systems worldwide.
Multimillion-dollar deal
In February, the company announced it was acquiring a controlling interest of 52.2 percent of Ainsworth from founder Len Ainsworth for $473.3 million Australian ($363.3 million U.S.).
Ainsworth opened a new Las Vegas headquarters in 2016.
Novomatic has a minor U.S. presence with a research and development facility in Chicago.
The board needed an interpreter to question some of the company’s executives, including controlling beneficial owner Johann Graf.
“We were competitors,” Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann said of Ainsworth. “But we would always talk at trade shows so there was communication with each other.”
Danny Gladstone, CEO of Ainsworth, said Novomatic’s backing would enable the company to grow. He said there are 180 Ainsworth employees in Southern Nevada and he doesn’t expect any change in strategy or development plans with Novomatic.
Share sale approved
Ainsworth’s shareholders and management have approved the sale of Len Ainsworth’s shares to Novomatic and the transaction is expected to close by Jan. 2.
“I view this as two good companies poised to do good things together,” board member Terry Johnson said before the vote.
Burnett added that he’d always wondered when Novomatic, a company he has heard much about, would make it to Nevada.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
