DoubleDown Acquisition Seen as Positive Move
Although not all were of the opinion that the acquisition of the DoubleDown Casino was going to be a good acquisition for the International Game Technology, it now seems as if it is.
IGT, the gaming software giant had purchased DoubleDown for $500 million just 17 months ago. While there was much skepticism initially, last month, there seemed to have been a change in opinion.
Cameron McKnight, a gaming analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, said: "In our view, DoubleDown is turning into one of IGT's best acquisitions, which we believe can continue to grow profitably."
DoubleDown Acquisition Shows Positive Financial Results
After showing that the free social gaming site, DoubleDown Casino, had helped to increase the profits at IGT, for the first time in many months, the opinion seems to have changed, and the DoubleDown acquisition is seen as positive.
The change in opinion came after IGT noted that the boost in the third quarter earnings came from the DoubleDown Casino. By the end of June, of the $579 million of income that was reported in the IGT report ending on June 30th, the company noted that $61.4 million of this revenue came from DoubleDown Casino.
The DoubleDown Casino is available on Facebook, the extremely successful online social site, and also via mobile gaming, and through various other Internet based locations. Although DoubleDown offers free gaming, players can increase their virtual bankrolls by making purchases of extra gambling credits, for which they are charged a small fee.
Another gaming analyst, Chad Beynon, from Macquarie Securities, said: "IGT continues to show improving results out of what is becoming a solid business."
Of the many gaming analysts that criticised the original DoubleDown acquisition by IGT, most have done an about turn, including Bill Lerner. Lerner, the Managing Director of Union Gaming, is now saying that this acquisition has helped to offset the revenue that has been lost in the are of slot machine sales.
He said: "The brightest spot in the quarter for IGT was interactive, which showed both sequential and year-over-year growth."
IGT Plans to Focus on Slot Machine Market
IGT may have received a boost from its DoubleDown acquisition, but it still plans to keep up its leading role in manufacturing slot machines.
The company provides video lottery terminals to the Canadian market, and also to Illinois, although it is expected that shipments to the Canadian market will be somewhat slower in the near future. IGT is currently looking into other avenues for its slots gaming division.
