SVL ices gaming machine partnership
Published:Sunday | June 7, 2020 | 12:24 AM
Supreme Ventures Limited, (SVL), has ended its partnership and taken over gaming equipment in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana from ICE Jamaica.
The acquisition price for the gaming equipment was not disclosed.
SVL had a revenue-sharing arrangement with ICE Jamaica for more than 10 years, under which the latter company provided VLT route services, offering Las Vegas-style machines in licensed locations.
In 2015, ICE Jamaica was contracted by the company to manage its route gaming system. The US$5-million contract involved ICE Jamaica selecting bars and taverns to deploy video lottery terminals, or VLTs, under a new route gaming project that was being executed through subsidiary Prime Sports Jamaica Limited.
At the time, SVL reasoned that its decision to outsource the management of gaming machines to ICE Jamaica seemed a better choice for the company, saying it was spreading itself too thin with the now-shuttered Odyssey Gaming Lounge at Market Place in Kingston, the Castle Gaming Lounge, and video lottery terminal operations in Portmore.
At its announcement of the machine purchases from ICE Jamaica, SVL pitched the concluded deal as an “expansion of the gaming machine business in Jamaica” in a market filing on the stock exchange. However, questions sent to the company on its plans for the insourced business were unanswered.
For the first quarter ending March, SVL’s gaming revenue grew nine per cent, while profit for the period rose nearly 19 per cent year-on-year to $736.79 million. The company, however, warns that results for the June quarter will show blows to revenue from the suspension of sporting events worldwide and the government-mandated closure of all lounges and bars, which idled SVL’s video lottery terminals.
Due to government orders issued in mid-March, SVL subsidiaries Post to Post Betting Limited, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), and Supreme Route Limited were forced to shut down completely.
SVREL, which operates the Caymanas Park horse-racing track, later reopened with spectator-less races.