Inspired Entertainment in bid to buy slot machine maker PlayAGS - sources

Inspired Entertainment

12/08/2022 17:26

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Krystal Hu
    Aug 12 (Reuters) - Gaming equipment provider Inspired
Entertainment  INSE.O  has made a $370 million offer to acquire
slot machine maker PlayAGS Inc  AGS.N , people familiar with the
matter said on Friday.
    Inspired has offered $10 per share in cash to acquire
PlayAGS, the sources said. PlayAGS shares ended trading on
Thursday at $6.
    There is no certainty that PlayAGS will engage in
negotiations with Inspired Entertainment or that any deal will
be reached, the sources added, asking for anonymity because the
matter is confidential. 
    Inspired Entertainment didn't immediately respond to
requests for comment. PlayAGS declined to comment. 
    Las Vegas-based PlayAGS makes gaming tables and interactive
solutions for gaming houses. Backed by private equity firm
Apollo Global Management Inc  APO.N , it went public in 2018. 
    The casino gaming industry and its vendors have been hard
hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with PlayAGS now worth a fifth of
what the market valued it at in 2019.
    However the company is on the mend as gaming activities and
travel rebound, reporting $76.6 million in quarterly revenue
this week, beating analyst estimates. 
    Inspired Entertainment supplies gaming solutions, including
virtual sports and mobile gaming, in casinos and bars in more
than 35 jurisdictions, according to its website. It has a market
value of close to $400 million.
    The New York-based firm reported a 72% jump in quarterly
revenue to $71.3 million this week, as its business rebounds
from pandemic lockdowns.
    On an analyst call on Wednesday, Inspired Entertainment
Chief Financial Officer Stewart Baker said the firm was actively
looking at a number of M&A activities. 
    "We are certainly willing to use capital for M&A if it's
something that strategically fits with what we are trying to do.
And there seem to be a lot of things around right now presenting
themselves as possibilities,” said Baker.

 (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston and Krystal Hu in
New York; Additional reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York;
Editing by David Holmes)
 ((Krystal.Hu@thomsonreuters.com;))