Bally Technologies has agreed to acquire SHFL Entertainment, a casino games maker, for nearly $1.3 billion in cash.
Formerly known as Shuffle Master, SHFL makes products like automatic card shufflers and roulette chip sorters, as well as proprietary table games and electronic gaming machines. Founded in 1983, the Las Vegas-based company went public in 1992. In its most recent quarter, some 45 percent of its revenue came from Australia and Asia.
Bally is paying $23.25 a share, which represents a premium of 24 percent over SHFL’s closing price on Monday and a premium of 37 percent over the average closing price of its common stock for the 90 days ended Monday. For Bally, also based in Las Vegas, the deal would be its biggest acquisition to date, according to Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ data.
“Like SHFL, Bally focuses on creating both entertaining player experiences through high-performing content and state-of-the-art technological solutions to increase productivity on the casino floor,†Gavin Isaacs, SHFL’s chief executive, said in a statement. “United, we become a larger, stronger organization that we believe will best position the company for future growth.â€
Macquarie Capital and the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised SHFL.
Goldman Sachs and Groton Partners were financial advisers to Bally. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcherserved as the legal adviser.
Bally has obtained committed financing to complete the acquisition from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Union Bank and Goldman.
