Summit, Game-Tech officially tie knot
Pub Date: 5/1/2007
Tim Carson repeated his mantra when he sat down with a reporter at the Summit Gaming Customer Appreciation Days Open House April 17 in Billings: "If you liked the last 10 years, you're going to love the next 10."
Carson was plainly relieved that the painstaking "due diligence" required by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission was complete, and that the acquisition of Summit Gaming–the gaming machine development and manufacturing firm Carson has captained for the past 11 years–by Reno, Nev. company Game-Tech, had been approved and finalized.
Carson, a man who is known for sometimes exhibiting a certain level of intensity, seemed at ease–smiling, bantering, evidently thoroughly enjoying himself.
He also exhibited a palpable excitement, one that was mirrored by Game-Tech President and CEO Jay Meilstrup and by Vice President of Business Affairs, Patrick Crawford, who joined Carson and the reporter around a table at the show.
It was announced last August that Game-Tech, a company specializing in wireless gaming systems, particularly bingo, intended to acquire Montana's Billings-based Summit Gaming, the market leader for video keno and poker platforms with sales operations in Louisiana, South Dakota and other jurisdictions. Game-Tech is licensed in eight countries and 38 states.
Eight months after the announcement, and the marriage has finally been consummated. The new bride is now known as "Summit Gaming, a Division of Game-Tech international."
Now that the regulatory hurdles have been cleared, the companies can begin concentrating on merging
their assets.
"We're not planning on any layoffs," Meilstrup said. "The Summit expertise is a major part of the acquisition," though he quickly adds, "We actually see this as more of a merger than an acquisition.
"This one went well," said Meilstrup. "It wasn't a hostile take over and we're all focused on the future."
And that future hinges on integrating the strengths of the respective companies: Game-Tech's access to dozens of jurisdictions and cutting edge technological developments with Summit's extraordinary library of game content and mastery of quality presentation and player interaction; a melding of Class II and Class III gaming concepts.
Meilstrup admitted the Summit division will be the engine that puts the most drive into the company's future. "It is the growth vehicle," he said, predicting concepts "on the drawing board" could propel exponential growth.
"Bingo," Game-Tech's primary content offering, "represents a mature market," Meilstrup said, yet "wireless gaming technology is at the edge of a huge growth market."
Meilstrup said the engineering personnel from both companies "are talking, looking for new synergies. Our respective technologies are compatible, complementary. We should be able to put Summit (game) content on our systems and vice versa."
Further, Meilstrup said, the national and international scope of Game-Tech service, support and sales infrastructure should provide new markets for Summit devices which are suitable for international markets.
"This is a situation where two plus two equals seven," Meilstrup said.
"Summit does some things better than Game-Tech, and we expect to build on that. Game-Tech does some things better than Summit," such as operate in a much wider market and pioneering wireless technology in gaming venues, he said.
Meilstrup and Carson agreed the relatively small size of the new company lends itself to market agility and customer responsiveness.
"We're almost a custom house," Meilstrup said. "We can respond very quickly to customer preferences or jurisdictional changes."
Carson added, "We built Summit on carefully listening to our customers and then reacting quickly. We can make fast decisions. We don't operate by committee."
As for Montana customers who've come to rely on Summit gaming gear, Carson was reassuring when he noted the company has built its success on a continuous "upgrade path" for both its proven Royal Touch and Mega-Plex series.
To reinforce that point, Carson emphasized the new patented multi-hand pay-line poker features in Royal Touch bonus rounds, and the completely new "Spillover" Keno concepts being integrated into the Mega-Plex platform.
"Our upgrade cycles are accelerating," he said. "It used to be annual. Now we roll out platform upgrades every six or eight months. That will be continuing."
And Carson, like Meilstrup, promised more innovations that are currently "in the pipeline."
It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see where the combined strengths of the two companies could rapidly place the new firm in a commanding position in certain market segments.
Always mindful of necessary caution, though, both Meilstrup and Carson shied away from offering specifics. However, Meilstrup did say he anticipated seeing some job expansion at the Montana facilities.
Carson closed the discussion by stating, "Montanans have been investing in Summit for more than a decade. Now they can literally invest in the company by owning shares." Game-Tech is publicly held and listed on the NASDAQ exchange as GMTC.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May. 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.