The $6.2 billion merger between Everi Holdings and International Game Technology (IGT) will create a slot machine industry giant competing for casino market share with the two leading gaming equipment providers, Aristocrat Gaming and Light & Wonder.
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But David Lopez, CEO of Las Vegas-based slot developer AGS, viewed the merger as a positive for smaller slot machine providers. During AGS’s fourth-quarter conference call last week, Lopez used history as an example when asked about the Everi-IGT deal.
He cited the combined $14.3 billion in four gaming equipment provider mergers between 2012 and 2014 that created two gaming industry behemoths and shook up the supplier landscape.
Lopez, who has been CEO of AGS since 2014, said after the mega-mergers, smaller suppliers tripled their game sales over the next few years.