Intralot Enters Italian VLT Market with Cogetech

Marking the company's first foray into the Italian video lottery terminal (VLT) market, Greece's Intralot has formed a new joint venture with Italian gaming operator Cogetech S.p.A, through which operation of the VLTs is expected to commence during the first quarter of 2010.

Intralot will own a 51% stake of the newly incorporated joint venture, with the terminals initially being incorporated in Intralot's network of dedicated betting shops, the second biggest in Italy.

"We are very pleased, as our agreement with Cogetech marks our entrance into the Italian VLTs' market, creating synergies with our investment in the country's betting market that continues to grow remarkably," said Constantinos Antonopoulos, Intralot CEO. "The successful liberalisation model of the Italian market has set an example that many European countries follow, and we are very excited to become a part of this successful implementation."

Intralot said that the synergy between betting and VLTs is expected to drive both the sales increase, as well as economies of scale through the utilization of common infrastructure.

"Intralot intends to further enhance its presence in the VLT market both in Italy, in view of the new developments, and worldwide. Together with Cogetech we will work closely in order to seize other business opportunities and further expand in the lucrative Italian market," added Antonopoulos.

Established in 2004, Cogetech S.p.A. is one of the leading operators in the Italian slot machines (AWPs) market with more than 38,000 AWPs across 15,000 points of sale.

"We are very pleased to join our know-how that led us to become one of the major players in the slot machines market in Italy to Intralot, a company that has established a strong network and a very respected brand name in Italy, incorporating its valuable experiences from the global gaming market," said Fabio Schiavolin, CEO of Cogetech.

"The rapid development of the AWP's Italian market and our extensive experience in this field makes us very optimistic about the course of the VLTs market and our expansion in this field as well. We are confident that our partnership with Intralot will lead to impressive results."

Shares in Intralot S.A (Co. Profile) (ASE:INLOT) are currently up 1.63% at €4.37 per share in Athens this morning following the announcement.