Aristocrat CEO: There are still M&A opportunities available
Trevor Croker remains bullish on potential online and land-based acquisitions following NeoGames deal
Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker has claimed there are still M&A opportunities for the supplier giant following its $1.2bn (£960m) move for NeoGames.
Speaking as part of a management roundtable to update potential investors, Croker fielded a series of questions from analysts.
The boss was pressed on whether the ASX-listed firm was plotting more online M&A or returning to its land-based roots.
Aristocrat confirmed the $1.2bn move for NeoGames in May, which valued the company at $29.50 a share, while it also snapped up Roxor Gaming from LiveScore Group earlier this year to add to its online real-money gaming arm, Anaxi.
Croker noted the company would “look at all opportunities” but that it needed to take a “disciplined approach” to any potential M&A move.
The CEO said: “The first question we ask ourselves is how does this advance our strategy or how does this close a gap within our strategy?
“That doesn’t limit us to any one vertical. It gives us the opportunity to look at each of the business units independently around what that provides. So, we take a disciplined approach to what we’re looking for and what we’re looking at.
“Then we run through the logical approach: is it the right thing strategically, is it financially accretive and how does the culture fit?
“There still remains M&A in the marketplace. Some expectations remain above what we believe is appropriate and we’ll continue to be patient and disciplined,” he added.
Croker’s comments come as IGT launched a strategic review into its Global Gaming and PlayDigital divisions.
The CEO was also questioned during the same roundtable on whether the potential sale of these divisions reflected on the current state of the market.
Croker said: “We continue to focus on what we’re doing. We continue to focus on making sure that we support our customers and that we’ve got the best solution.
“Our objective is to continue to take share and use M&A to accelerate our growth. We’re focused on what we need to do, keep making a great portfolio and we’ve got used to executing it.”