“ G2E will be our greatest product lineup ever , as it should be . That ’ s not marketing rhetoric . That ’ s just the absolute truth . And it bears out in every metric that you look at for the company .”
A Good Bet
As AGS prepares to return to private ownership , stock analysts and industry experts acknowledge that the company ’ s future is a good bet , private or public
By Frank Legato
“ G2E will be our greatest product lineup ever , as it should be . That ’ s not marketing rhetoric . That ’ s just the absolute truth . And it bears out in every metric that you look at for the company .”
— David Lopez , President and CEO , AGS
Six years after it began trading as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange , slot supplier AGS announced on May 9 that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Brightstar Capital Partners , a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in industrial , manufacturing and services businesses .
AGS executives rang the bell to open trading on the NYSE January 26 , 2018 , to celebrate its listing on the exchange , after a successful IPO was completed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management , its original parent company . Ringing the bell was David Lopez , who had put the company in position for the IPO since becoming the company ’ s president and CEO in 2013 .
Lopez and his team took the reins of the company — then known by its official name American Gaming Systems — that year from then-CEO Bob Miodunski , the former chairman of Bally / Alliance Gaming whom Apollo had tapped to add Class III slots to the company ’ s Class II library , which mainly was in the Oklahoma market at the time . Miodunski added specialty Class III games to the library , installed a new platform and expanded the company ’ s licensing footprint .
Lopez began with basically one viable new slot game in the novelty Colossal Reels and built a team that grew the company into one of the top mid-tier slot suppliers in the business , while building a from-scratch division for table games and entering the interactive market .
Now , Lopez looks at the impending return to private ownership as an opportunity to grow the company yet again .
“ Joining forces with Brightstar represents an exciting new chapter for AGS and our mission to provide exceptional gaming solutions for our operator partners ,” Lopez said in the May 9 announcement of the Brightstar agreement . “ With Brightstar ’ s resources and strategic guidance , we believe AGS will be well-positioned to make targeted investments in R & D , top talent , operations , and industry-leading innovation , which should accelerate our global footprint .”
Brightstar has agreed to pay AGS shareholders $ 12.50 per share in cash , a 40 percent premium over the May 8 share price , in a deal worth $ 1.1 billion . Some stakeholders thought the price was too low , but no one is disputing the value of the management team in bringing AGS to this point . While many large manufacturer stocks have had flat results this year , AGS has outperformed the sector , its price soaring by nearly 37 percent by May .
That financial performance is a reflection on the company ’ s management , and a focus on the products . “ The big focus for me has been the performance and consistency ,” Lopez says . “ If you look at our performance as far as percentage growth over the past year and a half , we ’ re right there in the thick of things , potentially even in that No . 1 or No . 2 spot ( in the Eilers-Fantini per-
18 Global Gaming Business JULY 2024