News

16 May 2007

Lottomatica S.p.A. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, GTECH Sports Betting Solutions Limited, has entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding share capital of London-based Finsoft Limited, a leading provider of real-time transaction and information management systems for the commercial sports- betting market. In addition, GTECH will acquire substantially all of the assets of BEG Finsoft d.o.o. Belgrade, an affiliated Finsoft company and the Serbian-based development center for Finsoft's sports-betting operations. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007, subject to regulatory and certain other closing conditions, including the spin-off of Finsoft's non sports-betting businesses to Finsoft Financial Systems Ltd., a company owned by the existing shareholders of Finsoft.

"As a leading provider of sports-betting solutions, Finsoft has built a reputation of providing its clients with leading-edge solutions enabling them to offer their players a vast variety of bets and game offerings through all channels, utilizing real-time risk management," said W. Bruce Turner, CEO of Lottomatica S.p.A. and GTECH.

"By acquiring Finsoft, Lottomatica Group is now well-positioned to deliver a complete, integrated sports-betting solution to our customers and prospects, including fixed odds, pari-mutuel, betting exchange, and soft gaming via the internet, telephone, retail, interactive TV, and mobile channels, as well as self-service terminals," continued Mr. Turner. "Our goal is to become the world's leading provider of sports-betting technology and content to government-sponsored lottery markets and regulated commercial sports-betting markets, offering a full suite of support and management services."

"Finsoft brings to GTECH an excellent management team with a specific knowledge base and expertise in the sports-betting market, as well as strong client relationships," said Predrag Popovic, Chief Executive of Finsoft. "We look forward to working with the Lottomatica Group to continue the expansion of our business in the growing sports-betting market, and the opportunity to provide government-regulated lotteries with leading-edge technology. Through our partnership with GTECH, we also look forward to continue serving our existing customer base with a wider product offering."

The global sports-betting market is a £150 billion industry. Lottomatica Group believes this market is positioned for continued high growth in the foreseeable future, driven by a number of factors such as the demand for sports-betting technology in Europe and Asia, including a number of anticipated international bids in Taiwan and Turkey; the consolidation of technology providers in this particular market; and the desire for fresh content.

Mr. Turner continued, "With Finsoft, we are well-positioned to capture new business and grow market share by leveraging our leadership position in the lottery industry, our government relations experience, global presence, and our technological skills. We also gain a new source of revenue in a high- growth area of the gaming business. All of these factors will enable us to drive incremental, profitable, top-line growth for Lottomatica Group, and drive greater value for our shareholders."

Finsoft currently employs approximately 145 people in its bookmaking teams in London and Belgrade. GTECH intends to maintain Finsoft's operations in London and Belgrade and its separate brand identity.

Finsoft's unique MarginMaker(TM) platform runs some of the most successful and fastest-growing companies in the betting industry, such as Singapore Pools, Chisholm Bookmakers, and Boyle Sports. An integration plan has been established in order to assure customers of uninterrupted services and a seamless transition.

Lottomatica is one of the world's largest commercial lottery operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry. GTECH is a leading gaming technology and services company, providing innovative technology, creative content, and superior service delivery. GTECH and Lottomatica together create a fully integrated lottery operator and gaming technology solutions provider - a combined company with worldwide scale, considerable financial strength, and industry-leading customer solutions. Lottomatica is majority owned by De Agostini, which belongs to a century-old publishing, media, and financial services group. Lottomatica is publicly traded on the Italian Stock Exchange (LTO), and in 2006, had more than euro 1.6 billion in revenues and 6,000 employees in over 50 countries when combined with GTECH.

Read the article on Bloomberg.com