IGT and Scientific Games Corporation abandon Brazil scratchcard agreement

British lottery and gaming machines innovator International Game Technology (IGT) has announced its official withdrawal from the alliance that was to have seen it manage Brazil’s inaugural national scratchcard concession in partnership with American compatriot Scientific Games Corporation.

The London-headquartered firm used an official Tuesday press release to detail that the joint arrangement was finalized a year ago and was set to involve the pair overseeing the instant-win ticket business for Caixa Economica, which is the largest lottery retailer in Brazil.

Subsequent snag:

However, the innovator declared that the duo was also eager to ‘ensure the success of the national instant ticket business in Brazil’ by having their understanding with Caixa Economica include a distribution element. The company stated that this later aspect of the proposed agreement was finalized ‘following more than seven months of diligent discussions’ although it and Las Vegas-based Scientific Games Corporation were left frustrated after their local partner ‘failed to authorize its execution by the concession deadline’ of September 21.

Read a statement from IGT…

“The 13,000 lottery retailers within Caixa Economica’s network are fundamental to a successful launch of the instant ticket business in Brazil and without such a distribution network the companies were not prepared to move forward.”

Delay denial:

IGT proclaimed that a subsequent request for ‘an extension of the process’ with Caixa Economica was moreover refused while a recent Supreme Federal Court decision against the federal government’s lottery monopoly has now paved the way for every one of the giant country’s states to develop and manage their own individual lotteries.

IGT’s statement read…

“As a result, and despite being fully prepared to fulfill all of the financial and non-financial conditions precedent of the concession agreement, prudent capital management dictates that we withdraw from the process and re-evaluate the business case of implementing a lottery operations model in Brazil.”

Review receptive:

Nevertheless, IGT pronounced that itself and Scientific Games Corporation are still prepared to revisit the matter in the future ‘should the government of Brazil consider an extension of the process for Caixa Economica to authorize and execute a contract’ owing to ‘the high contribution potential of this venture to a number of government programs.’