Scientific Games to Buy WMS Industries for $1.5 Billion

Scientific Games on Thursday agreed to buy WMS Industries for $1.5 billion, bolstering its position in the casino and lottery industry.

Under the terms of the deal, Scientific Games will pay $26 for each share of WMS. At that level, the deal represents a nearly 60 percent premium to WMS’s closing price on Wednesday.

With WMS, Scientific Games will add to its portfolio of casino products, including video poker machines and slot machines. In the last quarter, revenue at WMS increased by a modest 2 percent to $159 million.

“The acquisition of WMS is transformational for Scientific Games, enabling us to offer a complete portfolio of lottery and gaming products and services to both new and existing customers around the world,” A. Lorne Weil, the chief executive of Scientific Games said in a statement. “We expect to combine our game content, technology, operational capabilities and respective geographic footprints to create an enterprise poised to capitalize on significant growth oppotunities around the globe.”