Another Online Gaming Group Switches Hands
The Tatts Group, an Australian gaming firm formerly known as Tattersalls, has acquired full ownership of online gaming company, European Gaming Group. This latest move is only the most recent in a line of online gaming related acquisitions that have been occurring quite frequently since the United States passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006.
Many online gaming companies who no longer accept US players have suffered significant losses in revenue since 2006-2007, forcing the inevitable decision to sell the company to a larger online gaming operation. The situation with the European Gaming Group is slightly different, however.
The European Gaming Group was a joint operation, formed by both the Tatts Group and Macquarie Group, to purchase Talarius, an adult gaming company in the UK, for 355-million AUD. The acquisition took place in February of 2007, including the takeover of 197 gambling arcades and the CyberSlotz online gambling portal.
Tatts Group acquired full ownership of the company by buying out Macquarie Group's 50% shares in the gaming company. While exact financial details of the buy-out have not been disclosed, Tatts Group did reveal that the funds for the purchase derive from existing corporate debt facilities.
The Victorian-based lottery and poker machine operator, Tatts Group, actually has very little experience in the online gaming industry. It should be interesting to see how the company develops now that Tatts has entered the UK gaming industry full-throttle.