Las Vegas company buys U.K. slot seller

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Alliance Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas said today it has acquired British video gaming machine company Crown Gaming from Crown Entertainment Ltd., expanding its operations in England in anticipation of liberalized gambling laws.

Terms weren't disclosed.

In a statement, Alliance said the acquisition of Crown, the U.K.'s largest distributor of gaming machines, includes distribution agreements for a wide array of automated table gambling games and video bingo machines along with existing maintenance agreements with casinos.

Alliance will combine Crown Gaming with its Bally Gaming and Systems unit to create Bally Gaming Systems UK Ltd. The Bally unit acquired Honeyframe Software Development Ltd, a U.K. gaming machine systems company, in May.

The company said it is focused on building a market in England in advance of expected growth of legalized gambling there. While limited-payout slot machines are now legal in Great Britain, the company expects that Las Vegas-style slot machines will eventually be legalized.

Since the British government began to move forward with plans to liberalize the gaming industry last year, several major Nevada and Las Vegas gaming players have expressed interest in casino and other gaming projects in England, including International Game Technology, MGM MIRAGE, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Caesars Entertainment Inc., Mandalay Resort Group, Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson.

Legislators are developing a national gaming oversight group and fine tuning other details of a bill that could come up for a vote in Parliament in mid-2005 or later.

New York Stock Exchange-listed shares of Alliance Gaming closed Tuesday at $24.63, up 48 cents, or 2 percent. The stock traded this morning at $24.42, down 21 cents.