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Bally Technologies Inc. was up $17.53 to $77.70 Friday and was one of the biggest movers on the New York Stock Exchange.
The gambling equipment maker is being bought by rival Scientific Games Corp. in a deal worth $5.1 billion, including debt.
Bally shareholders will get $83.30 a share, representing a 38% premium to the stock's closing price on Thursday.
Based in Las Vegas, Bally Technologies makes slot machines, video lottery systems, table games and other products.
“I think the industry is just getting broader and broader,” Gavin Isaacs, Scientific Games’ president and chief executive, said in a conference call. “There are lots of smaller companies making inroads into the industry.”
Bally Technologies also serves as the Golden Nugget’s online gambling partner in the state of New Jersey and it was not immediately known how this acquisition will affect that relationship. The Golden Nugget is the highest grossing casino in Atlantic City.
While Web gambling only became legalized in the Garden State last November, Bally Technologies began offering free-to-play casino games in conjunction with the Golden Nugget in June of 2012.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
