In what could be the beginning of a new trend in interactive gaming, a Las Vegas-based slot machine manufacturer is taking over a gaming software company.
Innovative Gaming Corp. of America announced plans to acquire GET USA Inc., parent company of Australian Internet gaming software company Gaming and Entertainment Technology.
The deal was reported earlier this week in the Las Vegas Sun. Parties from neither company have returned repeated messages from IGN seeking further comment.
According to the Sun's report, IGCA will issue 49 percent of its outstanding stock to GET shareholders in the acquisition. IGCA has 10.5 million outstanding shares.
GET's subsidiaries, Gaming & Entertainment Technology and GET Holdings, produce software gaming systems used by Internet casinos and lotteries.
The deal is a key step for IGCA in entering the online gaming market. If the Nevada Gaming Commission continues to move forward with regulating online gaming, many believe it will only issue licenses to those companies that have operated in regulated markets and have not taken any bets from American consumers. GET is licensed by the Australian government and refuses to accept wagers from the United States or any other jurisdiction where Internet gaming is illegal.
According to the Sun, IGCA will integrate GET's Internet gaming software and game titles with its own Linux-based slot operating system. That integration will allow IGCA to create products that can be used at both Internet casinos and for traditional land-based slot machines and gaming devices.
"With access to the GET game library of 50 games, IGCA will substantially increase its product offerings in the near term," IGCA Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Foley told the Sun. "This will enhance our competitive position in our traditional slot machine business."