Inspired acquires 100 percent stake in Merkur joint venture

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Inspired, the leading provider of Virtual Sports, Mobile Games and SBG Video Lottery, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of Merkur Inspired. With 100% ownership, it will now be branded “Inspired” in line with the global brand.

Inspired and Merkur Gaming GmbH, a subsidiary of the Gauselmann Group, formed a 50/50 Joint Venture in January 2011, called “Merkur Inspired,” to supply VLTs to the Italian marketplace. Through completing a 100% acquisition, Inspired has acquired all of the assets and fully incorporated them throughout its product and service portfolio, giving its Italian customers a fully integrated offering.

Vitaliano Casalone, Presidente of Inspired Italia, comments: “This investment is testament to our ongoing commitment to Italy, which is the largest gaming market in Europe. With full brand ownership we can maintain and grow our leadership position, as well as fully integrate content and services across all platforms – from VLT and Virtual Sports, across retail, online and mobile – enhancing performance and productivity.”

Italy is a key market for Inspired – Inspired is one of the country’s three VLT major suppliers, it supplies over 95% of the land-based and online Virtual Sports and is the only provider that supplies Virtual Sports for mobile. From a standing start, Inspired’s Virtuals content and technology has supported the development of a €1billion p.a. market in Italy in just one year. Inspired’s success in the Italian market is a result of significant investment and research into Italian player preferences and the premium quality of its products.