Century Gaming Inc., one of Montana' leading gaming route operators, announced June
15 that it "has acquired the gaming and amusement assets of Northern Vending, Inc. and Capital
Music, Inc.," the fifth and ninth largest routes in the state.
The transaction was scheduled to close on June 30, according to a company news release.
Century Gaming will then have offices in Missoula, Billings, Great Falls, Shelby, Kalispell
and Helena, a company spokesman said.
"The acquisition of the route operations provides Century Gaming with additional growth opportunities and continues it' vision of becoming a statewide provider," according to J. Grant Lincoln, president and chief executive officer of Century Gaming.
"The acquisition continues our goal of taking Century' route operations statewide as well as providing new growth opportunities for us," Lincoln said. "We have acquired the premier route operators in four significant markets, and intend to provide the exemplary service that their customers are used to along with innovative ideas in game technology and services.
"With the addition of these routes to our organization, we have reaffirmed Century as the industry leader and look forward to pursuing every opportunity to maintain and enhance this position," Lincoln said.
The Company' operations will now be headquartered in Billings with Steven W. Arntzen continuing as Chief Operating Officer. Upon the closing of the acquisitions, the company will employ over 100 people, according to Arntzen.
"One of the primary reasons we were able to accomplish these transactions was the loyalty and dedication of the employees that will be coming on board as well as the continued efforts of the teams we have in place," Arntzen said.
"This is a people business, and with these acquisitions we have assembled a premier team with industry experience second to none. We look forward to continuing to provide the best service in the industry along with the latest games and technology," he said.
Fleetwood Gaming of Billings has, for the past several years, been aggressively recruiting video gaming machine vending locations in the state, but was operating fewer than 1,000 devices just a couple of years ago. However, as of June 1, their machine count hit 1,705, putting them into the top spot at the time, just slightly ahead of Century Gaming's 1,698 VGMs.
But with Century's acquisition of number five Northern Vending and its affiliate Capital Music, with a combined 1,279 machines in the field, Century moved firmly into the lead once again.
Other vending firms have seen significant gains while others have suffered some contraction, reshuffling the order substantially. Nevada Restaurant Services also recently entered the business and is vending exclusively the U-1 machine brand.
The following were the top 20 video gaming machine vendors as of June. 1, prior to the Century acquisitions, according to the Gambling Control Division.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, July, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.