Las Vegas gaming figure Yuri Itkis is poised to expand his bingo holdings with the proposed purchase of a competitor's assets.
GameTech International Inc. of Reno, which filed for bankruptcy July 2, disclosed last week that it’s agreed to a deal in which Itkis will be the "stalking horse" bidder and therefore the likely buyer of its assets.
Itkis has a Las Vegas company supplying the bingo industry called FortuNet Inc.
He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on his plans for GameTech, which makes bingo equipment and slot machine-like video lottery terminals and has annual revenue of about $30 million.
The companies haven't commented on what, if anything, the deal means for GameTech’s customers and its 107 staff and contractor employees. Any major changes at GameTech likely would have to be approved by gaming regulators in states where it operates.
The company says it has about 26 percent of the electronic bingo market with operations in 38 states, Indian gaming locations, Canada and Japan.
Records show GameTech ran into financial trouble because of the recession and because it expanded into the video lottery terminal business in 2007.
The records show Itkis positioned himself to acquire GameTech when in June he purchased from banks its $16.4 million in debt.
In an upcoming auction for GameTech’s assets, Itkis will be able to credit bid that amount and has agreed to pay another $2.5 million in cash for the benefit of creditors.
As the stalking horse bid, that’s the bid any competing bidders would have to beat by a deadline Friday.
FortuNet is privately held so its financial information is not public. However, when it was public in 2009, its revenue was running at an annual rate of about $15.6 million.