Vegas slot maker cancels merger, names president

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

Innovative Gaming Corp. of America, a small Las Vegas slot manufacturer, announced today it has named Laus Abdo president.

Abdo was named chief financial officer of IGCA in September, and will continue in that role. IGCA did not specify who Abdo replaced; the company listed Barrett Johnson as its president last year. The chief executive of IGCA, Roland Thomas, resigned in October after IGCA called off a merger with Xertain Inc.

Separately, IGCA said it is calling off the acquisition of Scotch Twist Inc. IGCA had said in August this acquisition would give it a suite of patents that would allow it to produce coinless slots that could be played by inserting a credit or debit card. IGCA said it decided to call off the buyout "to avoid substantial dilution to IGCA's shareholders and to significantly reduce cash requirements related to the merger." A termination agreement is being negotiated.

For the last several months, IGCA has been undertaking a sizable restructuring of the company. The company didn't say how many employees have been laid off, but said it has reduced its expected overhead by about 40 percent.