Item 1. Business.
Overview
Everi is a leading supplier of technology solutions for the casino gaming industry. We provide casino operators with a diverse portfolio of products including innovative gaming machines that power the casino floor, and casino operational and management systems that include comprehensive end-to-end payments solutions, critical intelligence offerings, and gaming operations efficiency technologies.
Everi Holdings reports its results of operations based on two operating segments: Games and FinTech. Effective April 1, 2018, we changed the name of the operating segment previously referred to as “Payments” to “Financial Technology Solutions” (“Everi FinTech” or “FinTech”). We believe this reference more accurately reflects the focus of the business segment on delivering innovative and integrated solutions to enhance the efficiency of the casino operator, support the comprehensive regulatory and tax requirements of their gaming customers, and improve players’ gaming experience by providing easy access to their funds and payment of winnings.
Everi Games provides gaming operators products and services, including: (a) gaming machines primarily comprised of Class II and Class III slot machines placed under participation or fixed fee lease arrangements or sold to casino customers, including
TournEvent
® that allows operators to switch from in-revenue gaming to out-of-revenue tournaments; (b) system software, licenses, ancillary equipment, and maintenance; and (c) business-to-consumer and business-to-business interactive activities. In addition, Everi Games develops and manages the central determinant system for the video lottery terminals (“VLTs”) installed in the State of New York and it also provides similar technology in certain tribal jurisdictions.
Everi FinTech provides gaming operators cash access and related products and services, including: (a) access to cash at gaming facilities via Automated Teller Machine (“ATM”) cash withdrawals, credit card cash access transactions, point of sale (“POS”) debit card cash access transactions, and check verification and warranty services; (b) equipment that provides cash access and efficiency-related services; (c) products and services that improve credit decision making, automate cashier operations, and enhance patron marketing activities for gaming establishments; (d) compliance, audit, and data solutions; and (e) online payment processing solutions for gaming operators in states that offer intrastate, Internet-based gaming, and lottery activities.
Everi Holdings was formed as a Delaware limited liability company on February 4, 2004 and was converted to a Delaware corporation on May 14, 2004. Our principal executive offices are located at 7250 South Tenaya Way, Suite 100, Las Vegas, Nevada 89113. Our telephone number is (800) 833-7110. Our website address is www.everi.com. The information on our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or our other filings with the SEC.
Our Business Segments
We report our financial performance, and organize and manage our operations, across the following two business segments: (a) Games; and (b) FinTech. For additional information on our segments and the revenues generated by our products and services see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Results of Operations” and “Note 18 — Segment Information” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our Products and Services
Everi Games
Our Games products and services include commercial devices, such as Native American Class II offerings and other bingo products, Class III offerings, video lottery terminals, accounting and central determinant systems, and other back office systems. We conduct our Games segment business based on results generated from the following major revenue streams: (a) Gaming Operations; (b) Gaming Equipment and Systems; and (c) Gaming Other.
Gaming Operations
With respect to our Gaming Operations revenue stream, we primarily offer: (a) leased gaming equipment on a participation or a fixed daily fee basis; (b) local-area progressive machines; (c) wide-area progressive machines (“WAP”); (d)
TournEvent
® machines; (e) accounting and central determinant systems; and (f) interactive gaming activities.
In connection with our leased gaming equipment, we generally retain ownership of the machines installed at customer facilities. We receive recurring revenue based on a percentage of the net win per day generated by the leased gaming equipment or a fixed daily fee. We continue to expand our game placements into new jurisdictions, increase investment in research and development, and introduce premium game hardware and theme content. From our historical focus on placement of games into the Oklahoma and Washington tribal markets, Everi Games has diversified its installed base in recent years with entry into new commercial and tribal markets. Everi Games has grown premium game installations with approximately
2,859
units installed (representing approximately
20.4%
of our installed base as of
December 31, 2018
) since entering the category approximately six years ago.
In connection with our WAP offering, machines placed under such arrangements fall into the leased gaming equipment category and we retain ownership of such machines. We debuted our first WAP in Class II markets in 2017 and are now operating in Class III tribal markets as well. Spanning three product lines, our WAP is offered to customers on
the
Player Classic
,
Core HDX,
and
Empire MPX
cabinets. The original Class II offering,
Jackpot Lockdown
®
, debuted with two themes —
Jackpot Lockdown Mega Meltdown
™ and
Jackpot Lockdown High Voltage
™. With the release of
Diamond Blaze
™ along with multiple other product offerings active on the link, the original Class II offering has expanded to Everi’s new premium sign package offering,
Renegade 3600
™.
Gaming operations also include revenues generated under our arrangement to provide the New York State Gaming Commission with an accounting and central determinant system for the VLTs in operation at licensed State of New York gaming facilities. In January 2018, an amendment to the agreement between Everi Games and the New York State Gaming Commission was approved and became effective. Under this amendment, Everi Games will continue to provide and maintain the central determinant system for the New York Lottery through December 2019. As of
December 31, 2018
, this system is connected to approximately
18,500
VLTs and has the ability to interface with, provide outcomes to, and manage the VLTs. Pursuant to our agreement with the New York State Gaming Commission, we receive a portion of the network-wide net win (generally, cash-in less prizes paid) per day in exchange for provision and maintenance of the central determinant system. We also provide central determinant system technology to Native American tribes in other licensed jurisdictions for which we receive a portion of the revenue generated from the VLTs connected to the system.
In connection with our interactive activities, Everi operates in the following two areas: (a) business-to-consumer (“B2C”); and (b) business-to-business (“B2B”). B2C relates to games offered directly to consumers through our social, mobile application, which can be played using virtual currency. The Company earns revenues by providing the virtual currency to the consumers, or the players, whenever the consumers purchase additional virtual currency. This offering is limited to the area of free-to-play also referred to as social casinos, and is offered through connectivity with Facebook as well as mobile platforms such as the Apple App Store for Apple devices and the Google Play Store for Android devices. B2B relates to games offered to the online business partners who then offer the games to consumers. Everi has developed its own remote gaming server (“RGS”) leveraging our extensive library of land-based content that is delivered through the RGS. This library contains casino-themed social and mobile games, and games available for real money gaming (“RMG”) offered to the online business partners that operate in play-for-fun, or social casinos, and the regulated online casinos that operate in the RMG regulated markets. We enter into revenue share agreements with online business partners offering Everi's virtual games.
Gaming Equipment and Systems
With respect to our Gaming Equipment and Systems revenue stream, we enter into direct sales contracts generally for some combination of: (a) gaming equipment and player terminals, including
TournEvent
® machines; (b) game content; (c) license fees; (d) ancillary equipment; and (e) maintenance.
Gaming Other
With respect to our Gaming Other revenue stream, we offer our
TournEvent of Champions
® that allows winners of local and regional tournaments throughout the year to participate in a national tournament that results in the determination of a final champion.
Our Games products include:
Classic Mechanical Reel Games
. Our full range of classic mechanical reel games provides players with a traditional, high denomination slot gaming experience. These games leverage our long-standing experience in building enduring brands, such as
Black Diamond
®
and
Wild Wild Gems
®
, and feature a unique take on traditional slot games with eye-catching features.
Super Jackpot Series
™ offers large linked progressives on the
Player Classic
®
cabinet packaged with overhead signage to display rolling progressive meters and exciting win celebrations from across the casino floor. The premium
Skyline
™ top box is a vintage-inspired bezel for the
Player Classic
cabinet showcasing red green blue lighting and a 24-inch liquid crystal display (“LCD”) panel, with titles including
Double Jackpot Gems
®
,
Kingmaker
®
,
Blazin’ Gems
®
,
and
licensed brands, such as
Smokin’ Hot Stuff
®
and
Casper
®
.
Video Reel Games
. We offer a growing range of dual-screen and portrait single screen video reel games that provide a uniquely entertaining slot gaming experience. The most recent released titles leverage
Core HDX
®
and
Empire MPX
™ cabinets (E43 and E5527) that deliver eye-catching graphics and full, rich sound.
A range of progressive features round out our library in games on the E43, such as
Lighting Zap Jackpots
™,
Diamond Rain
®
,
Diamond Rain Jackpot Wheel
™,
Cash Money
®
,
and
Diamond Money
™. The E5527 cabinet includes titles, such as
Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel
®
, and the recently introduced
Shark Week
with the new Nitro™ technology enabling display features across multiple devices.
Core HDX.
The
Core HDX
cabinet
enhances the player gaming experience with its dual widescreen 23-inch monitors with 1080p high definition (“HD”) capability, integrated touchscreens, and premium 3-way sound system. The eye-catching cabinet commands a presence on the casino floor with game-controlled lighting and a custom premium LCD topper,
Apex N
™. Select
Core HDX
games feature Everi Bet™, the bet configuration system that gives casino operators the power to optimize the casino floor for maximum returns. The vast majority of our standard video library on our MForce
®
software platform is designed to be playable on the
Core HDX
.
Empire MPX (E43)
. The
Empire MPX
debuted in April 2017
with the launch of the Company’s first premium participation cabinet on its WAP, and then launched its for-sale category
Empire MPX
products in December 2017.
The new cabinet features a single-screen 43-inch monitor, full 1080p HD graphics capabilities, and a fully-customizable touchscreen button panel. Its efficient design allows for tighter bank configuration.
Empire MPX
licensed video content includes
Casablanca
™,
Penn & Teller
®
,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
™,
Singin’ in the Rain
™, and
Willie Nelson
™.
Empire MPX (E5527).
The
E5527
is also uniquely designed to occupy less space on the casino floor, allowing for easy game bank and pod configurations. The all-new premium lease cabinet features a portrait oriented 55-inch upper display and landscape oriented 27-inch lower display that are sure to dazzle players. The cabinet leverages proven technology from Everi’s
Empire MPX
to deliver an exciting new player experience with visuals never before seen on an Everi gaming device. With its leading-edge cabinet design and innovative technology features, that both players and casino operators will appreciate,
E5527
commands attention on the casino floor.
The Texan HDX
™
. The Texan HDX
is an 8-foot tall cabinet with dual 42-inch HD video screens and features a two-person bench seat, integrated touch screens, and a premium three-way sound system. The cabinet is designed to showcase the Everi standard video library in an oversized format, allowing games to be prominently displayed on the casino floor.
TournEvent
®
. Our slot tournament system that allows gaming operators to switch from in-revenue gaming to out-of-revenue tournaments and to design and build a variety of flexible tournament formats, such as solo or team tournament play, session or round winner advancement, and cumulative or maximum scoring, including providing bonus opportunities that improve scores or automatically move a player to first place. The latest
TournEvent
®
5.0 game version includes new system enhancements that improve operator efficiencies and hardware and offers engaging tournament games that attract players. With the wireless tablet option, casino operators will be able to sign up players for tournaments remotely, allowing for a more efficient tournament registration and an overall better tournament experience for the casinos and players alike.
TournEvent
®
also is available with multiple sign options, consisting of a 65-inch television, lighted accent dividers, and the ability to be featured on new bank configurations.
Everi FinTech
Our FinTech products and services include solutions that we provide directly to gaming establishments to offer their patrons cash access-related services and products including: access to cash at gaming facilities via ATM cash withdrawals, credit card cash access transactions, and POS debit card cash access transactions; check-related services; fully integrated kiosks and maintenance services; compliance, audit, and data software; casino credit data and reporting services; and other ancillary offerings. We conduct our FinTech segment business based on results generated from the following major revenue streams: (a) Cash Access; (b) Equipment; and (c) Information Services and Other.
Cash Access
In connection with our Cash Access services, we offer the following:
ATM Cash Withdrawals
. ATM cash withdrawal transactions represent the largest category of electronic payment transactions that we process, as measured by dollar and transaction volume. In an ATM cash withdrawal transaction, a patron directly accesses funds from a device enabled with our ATM service by either using an ATM card or a debit card to withdraw funds from the patron’s demand deposit account, or using a credit card to access the patron’s line of credit. In either event, the patron must use the personal identification number (“PIN”) associated with such card. Our processor then routes the transaction request through an electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) network to the patron’s bank or issuer, as applicable.
Depending upon a number of factors, including the patron’s account balance or credit limit and daily withdrawal limit (which limits are set by the bank or issuer, as applicable), the bank or issuer will either authorize or decline the transaction. If the transaction is authorized, then the ATM-enabled device dispenses the cash to the patron. For a transaction using an ATM card or a debit card, the patron’s demand deposit account is debited by the amount of cash disbursed plus a service fee that we assess the patron for the use of the ATM service. For a transaction using a credit card with a PIN, the patron’s credit card account is charged by the amount of the cash disbursed plus a service fee that we assess the patron for the use of the ATM service. In both cases, the service fee is currently a fixed dollar amount and not a percentage of the transaction size. We also receive a fee, which we refer to as a reverse interchange fee, from the patron’s card-issuing bank for accommodating the card issuer’s customer. In most circumstances, we pay a percentage of the service fee
that we receive from the patron and, in some circumstances, a portion of the reverse interchange fees we receive, as a commission to our gaming establishment customers for the right to operate on their premises.
Credit Card Cash Access Transactions and POS Debit Card Cash Access Transactions
. Patrons can perform credit card cash access transactions and POS debit card cash access transactions using many of our enabled devices. A patron’s credit card cash access limit is usually a sub-limit of the total credit line and is set by the card-issuing bank, not Everi FinTech. These limits vary significantly and can be larger or smaller than the POS debit cash access limit. A credit card cash access transaction obligates the patron to repay the issuing bank over time on terms that are preset by the cardholder agreement. A patron’s POS debit card allows the patron to make cash withdrawals at the POS in an amount equal to the lesser of the amount of funds in the account, or a daily limit that is generally five to ten times as large as the patron’s daily ATM limit.
When a patron requests a credit card cash access or POS debit card cash access transaction, our processor routes the transaction request through one of the card associations, or EFT networks, to the issuing bank. Depending upon several factors, such as the available credit or bank account balance, the transaction is either authorized or declined by the issuing bank. If authorized, the patron’s bank account is debited or the patron’s credit card balance is increased, in both cases, by an amount equal to the funds requested plus our service fee. The service fee is a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of the transaction size, or a combination of a fixed dollar amount and percentage of the transaction size. If the transaction is authorized, the device informs the patron that the transaction has been approved. The device then further instructs the patron to proceed to the gaming establishment’s cashier, or Company-operated satellite cage (“financial services center”), to complete the transaction because credit card cash access and POS debit card cash access transactions must, in most circumstances, be completed in face-to-face environments and a unique signature must be received in order to comply with rules of the card associations. We reimburse the gaming establishment for the amount of cash that it provided to the patron by paying the gaming establishment via wire transfer or other similar form of electronic payment. In addition, we pay the gaming establishment a portion of the service fee as a commission for the right to operate on its premises. We are also obligated to pay interchange fees to the issuing bank and processing costs related to the electronic payment transaction to card associations.
Check-Related Services
. Patrons are able to cash checks at certain gaming establishments. When a patron presents a check to the cashier, the gaming establishment can accept or deny the transaction based on its own customer information and at its own risk, obtain third-party verification information about the check writer, the bank account number, and other information relating to the check to manage its risk, or obtain a warranty on payment of the check, which entitles the gaming establishment to reimbursement of the full amount of the check if it is dishonored.
If a gaming establishment chooses to have a check warranted, it sends a request to a check warranty service provider, inquiring whether it would be willing to accept the risk of cashing the check. If the check warranty provider accepts the risk and warrants the check, the gaming establishment negotiates the patron’s check by providing cash for the face amount of the check. If the check is dishonored by the patron’s bank upon presentment, the gaming establishment invokes the warranty, and the check warranty service provider purchases the check from the gaming establishment for the full check amount and then pursues collection activities on its own.
For those gaming establishments that seek to manage their own risk, we provide a subscription check verification service via a database operated by our subsidiary, Central Credit, LLC (“Central Credit”), which is used by gaming establishments to make credit issuing decisions. Central Credit maintains information on the check cashing and credit history of many gaming establishment patrons. For those gaming establishments that prefer to obtain a warranty, we provide check warranty services through a third-party check warranty service provider. We pay this third-party provider to assist with the warranty decision, check processing, billing, and collection activities. On our behalf, this third-party provider charges our gaming establishment customers a fee for the check warranty services, which is typically a percentage of the face amount of the check being warranted. In such circumstances, we receive all of the check warranty revenue. We are exposed to risk for the losses associated with any warranted items that cannot be collected from patrons issuing the items. Warranty expenses are defined as any amounts paid by the third-party provider to gaming establishments to purchase dishonored checks that will not be collectible from patrons and any expenses related to the collection on these amounts. We also pay certain fees and operating expenses to our third-party provider related to the provision of these services.
Casino Cash Plus 3-in-1 ATMs
are unmanned, cash-dispensing machines that enable ATM cash withdrawals, POS debit card cash access transactions, and credit card cash access transactions directly or using our 3-in-1 Rollover functionality. Most financial institutions that issue debit cards impose daily ATM withdrawal limits, and, in some instances, aggregate and count Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as a single day in calculating such limits. If a patron has reached his or her daily ATM limit, our 3-in-1 Rollover functionality automatically enables the patron to obtain funds via a POS debit card cash access transaction or a credit card cash access transaction instead.
CashClub
®
is a software payments platform that provides gaming establishments with a personal computer workstation software user interface and point-of-sale terminal that streamlines credit and debit card cash access transaction processing and check warranty transactions for casino patrons. It allows for electronic signature capture and dynamic currency conversion. It also interfaces with our Everi Compliance solutions (defined below) to assist casino operations with meeting regulatory requirements under Title 31 of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Equipment
In connection with our Equipment, we offer the following:
Fully Integrated Kiosks
are a complete line of products that provide multiple functions to the casino floor. This includes cash access functionality, such as our 3-in-1 Rollover, which provides casino patrons access to perform cash advance, POS debit, and ATM transactions. The kiosks also provide functionality to perform check cashing transactions, slot machine ticket redemption, bill breaking, and loyalty program access as well as integration with mobile and wallet technology. The availability of our cash access platform on these slot ticket redemption devices provides us with additional points of contact with gaming patrons at locations that are usually closer to gaming devices than traditional cash access devices that are typically located on the periphery of the gaming area within the casino floor and also provides gaming patrons with more opportunities to access their cash with less cashier involvement.
Other Integrated Kiosk Solutions
provide casinos with more efficient and streamlined methods for cash handling and transaction processing. These products are designed to be integrated with our cash access products and cage compliance software ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, and provide an automated way to process common tax forms, such as the Internal Revenue Service Form W-2G or Form 1042-S. In addition, we offer equipment in the form of standalone, non-ATM terminals that perform authorizations for credit card cash access and POS debit card cash access transactions. Our kiosk solutions include the following products:
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JackpotXchange
family of kiosks,
JXC 4.0
,
and
JXC-L,
enable casino personnel to efficiently access funds to pay out jackpots for their guests. These kiosks are integrated with all major slot systems to offer jackpot processing and pay-out in a combination of cash or slot tickets. These kiosks offer gaming operators the ability to reduce workload at the cage and for slot personnel.
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JackpotXpress
is a full-featured jackpot and tax form management platform that allows casino personnel to work through the complex jackpot process using a mobile tablet or kiosk.
JackpotXpress
allows gaming operators to reduce jackpot wait times, eliminate cumbersome paper documents, and perform “know your customer” checks. It is fully integrated with our Everi Compliance (defined below),
CageXchange
, and
JackpotXchange
products.
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CageXchange
is a cash dispensing device that helps streamline casino cage operations. With
CageXchange
, cash is securely vaulted, creating increased security while also reducing cash shrinkage and helping to improve cashier accuracy. Additional efficiencies are achieved from accelerating the process of cage cashiers obtaining money from the vault.
CageXchange
is integrated with
CashClub
®
to create an efficient transaction for casino guests.
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Our
Cash Recycling Solutions
allow casinos to fully automate the check in and check out process of money, saving time and expense. As gaming establishments vary in size and complexity, these
Cash Recycling Solutions
support a number of diverse resort operations such as retail, food and beverage, entertainment, and gaming operations.
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Information Services and Other
In connection with our Information Services and Other solutions, we offer the following:
Maintenance
provides for various forms of support to maintain our fully integrated kiosks. Our support operations, field service, and customer engagement teams provide quarterly and annual maintenance on these products and software systems to help maximize the efficiency of our products.
Everi Compliance
is our suite of compliance software offerings for gaming operators that help gaming establishments comply with financial services and gaming regulations, which include software to assist with anti-money laundering regulations, such as filing currency transaction reports (“CTRs”), and suspicious activity reports (“SARs”). In addition, these compliance solutions assist with “know your customer” checks to ensure transactions are appropriately conducted.
Central Credit
is our gaming patron credit bureau service which, on a subscription basis, allows gaming establishments to improve their credit-granting decisions by obtaining access to a database containing credit information and transaction data on millions of gaming patrons. Our gaming credit reports are comprised of information recorded from patron credit histories at hundreds of gaming establishments. We provide such information to gaming establishments that subscribe to the service. These establishments then use that data, among other things, to determine how much credit, if any, they will grant to a gaming patron. We typically charge our customers for access to gaming patron credit reports on a monthly basis and our fees are generally comprised of a fixed minimum fee plus per-transaction charges for certain requests.
Other solutions include database services that allow gaming establishments access to information from our proprietary patron transaction database for purposes of player acquisition, direct marketing, market share analysis, and a variety of other patron promotional uses. Our proprietary patron transaction database includes information that is captured from transactions we process. Patrons may “opt out” of having their names included in marketing mailing lists. We also offer an online payment processing solution for gaming operators in states that offer intra-state, Internet-based gaming, and lottery activities.
Manufacturing
We utilize contract manufacturers to produce the cabinets that make up our electronic gaming machines (“EGMs”), kiosk products, and other sub-assemblies. We have assembly facilities in Austin, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada, where we assemble the EGMs and our kiosk products, which include the cabinets, computer assemblies, LCD screens, printers, bill validators and acceptors, and other wiring and harnesses. We believe that our sources of supply of component parts and raw materials for our products are generally adequate and we have few sole-sourced parts.
Research and Development
We conduct research and development activities primarily to develop gaming systems, game engines, casino data management systems, bingo outcome determination systems, video lottery outcome determination systems, gaming platforms, and gaming content, and to enhance our existing product lines. We believe our ability to deliver differentiated, appealing products and services to the marketplace is based on our research and development investments, and we expect to continue to make such investments in the future. Research and development costs consist primarily of salaries and benefits, consulting fees, and game lab testing fees. Once the technological feasibility of a project has been established, it is capitalized until it becomes available for general release.
Customers
As of
December 31, 2018
, we served approximately
1,450
casinos and other gaming properties in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and Asia. In certain limited circumstances, we provide our products and services to non-gaming establishments, such as gas stations and other retail businesses associated with gaming establishment customers. However, the revenue generated from these operations is not material to our operations and we do not actively market or target non-gaming establishment customers.
Sales and Marketing
In our Games business, we sell and market our products and services to gaming establishments primarily through the use of a direct sales force, which targets gaming establishments in the United States and in certain international markets. With respect to our gaming products, we participate in the Class II and Class III gaming machine markets, and the central determinant system market in North America, through participation, or revenue share, and fixed fee arrangements, and the sale of proprietary EGMs and systems.
In our FinTech business, we sell and market Cash Access (i.e., Cash Advance, ATM, and Check Services), Equipment (i.e., Kiosks Sales), Information Services and Other (i.e., Kiosk Services, Compliance Sales and Services, Central Credit Services, and Ancillary Services) through the use of a direct sales force, which targets gaming establishments in the United States and in certain international markets.
With respect to both our Games and FinTech businesses, our sales and marketing efforts are directed by a team of customer service executives, each of whom has business development responsibility for gaming establishments in specified geographic regions.
These customer service executives direct their efforts at various levels of gaming establishment personnel, including: senior executives, finance professionals, marketing staff, slot directors, and cashiers, and seek to educate them on the benefits of our products and services. In some cases, our customer service executives are supported by field service and customer engagement teams, who provide on-site customer service to most of our customers. In other cases, our sales executives directly maintain the customer relationships. These customer service executives and field service and customer engagement teams generally reside in the vicinity of the specific gaming establishments they support to ensure a prompt response to the needs of those gaming establishments. We also have joint sales efforts with a number of strategic partners, including independent sales organizations, which allow us to market our products and services to gaming establishments through channels other than our direct sales force.
Competition
With respect to our Games business, we compete across different gaming markets with a variety of gaming equipment suppliers. Competition is generally based upon the: (a) amount of revenue our products generate for our customers relative to the amount of revenue generated by our competitors’ products; (b) prices and fees we and our competitors charge for products and services offered; and (c) appeal of our competitors’ products to gaming patrons, which has a direct effect on the volume of play generated by a product and, accordingly, the revenues generated for our customers. To drive customer demand and improve product attractiveness, we continually work to develop new game themes, game engines, hardware platforms, and systems that appeal to gaming patrons, all while working to release these new products to the marketplace in a timely manner.
With respect to our FinTech business, we compete with other providers of cash access services to the gaming industry as well as with financial institutions and other regional and local banks that operate ATMs on the premises of gaming establishments. Some of these other providers and financial institutions have established cooperative relationships with each other to expand their service offerings. We also face increased competition from: (a) independent sales organizations, which provide basic services and aggressive pricing; (b) other manufacturers that provide similar goods and services; and (c) traditional transaction processors that have entered the gaming patron cash access services market. This increased competition amongst these various providers of cash access services has resulted in pricing pressure and margin erosion with respect to our core cash access products and services. In addition to competing with various providers of cash access services, FinTech has experienced competition from either those same providers or stand-alone providers of anti-money laundering compliance products and self-service kiosks for ticket redemption and jackpot redemption.
Intellectual Property
We believe the ability to introduce and respond to technological innovation in the gaming industry will be an increasingly important qualification for the future success of any provider of cash access and gaming-related products and services. Our continued competitiveness will depend on: (a) the pace of our new product development; (b) our patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret protection; and (c) our relationships with customers. Our business development personnel work with gaming establishments, our technology and other strategic partners, and the suppliers of the financial services upon which our cash access services rely, to design and develop innovative products and services that appeal to gaming patrons.
We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and contractual restrictions to protect our intellectual property. The expiration dates of these patents vary and are based on their filing and issuances dates. We intend to continue to actively file for patent protection, when such filings are commercially reasonable, within and outside the United States. We also seek trademark protection for our names and products and have registered hundreds of trademarks in the United States and various foreign countries. Under permission or license agreements with third parties, we also sell gaming products covered by independently filed copyrights, trademarks, or patents. Typically, these contracts require us to pay royalties to the licensing party. Royalty expenses are included in the cost of gaming and systems in our Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to our patents, trademarks, and copyrights, we also rely on a broader scope of intellectual property including trade secrets, in-house know-how, and innovation.
Seasonality
Our revenues and cash flows may fluctuate throughout the year driven by seasonality in player demand and activity. We generally experience higher operating results during the first half of a year and lower operating results during the second half of a year, however, such fluctuations do not have a material impact on our revenues and cash flows.
Employees
As of
December 31, 2018
, we had approximately 1,250 employees. We believe that our relations with our employees are good. We have never experienced a work stoppage and none of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
Available Information
Our website address is www.everi.com. We make available free of charge on our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. In addition, our earnings conference calls are web cast live via our website. In addition to visiting our website, you may read any document we file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.
REGULATION
General
We believe that we are in substantial compliance with all material gaming and financial institution laws applicable to our business. We have a diligent internal compliance program to ensure compliance with our business activities, as well as legal requirements generally applicable to all publicly traded companies. The compliance program is directed on a day-to-day basis by our Chief Compliance Officer. Legal advice is provided by attorneys from the Company’s legal department and outside experts. The compliance program is overseen by the Corporate Compliance Committee, which includes a gaming law expert as an independent member. We can give no assurance, however, that our business activities or the activities of our customers in the gaming industry will not be subject to any regulatory or legal enforcement proceedings in the future and a violation of applicable laws by us or any of our subsidiaries could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, prospects, and results of operations. Depending on the nature of any noncompliance, our failure to comply with such laws, regulations, and ordinances may result in the suspension or revocation of any license, registration, or other approval, a partial or complete cessation of our business, seizure of our assets, as well as the imposition of civil fines and criminal penalties.
Gaming Regulation
The gaming industry is highly regulated under legal systems that frequently evolve and change based on governmental public policies. Various aspects of our business are subject to comprehensive laws, regulations, and ordinances applicable to the ownership, management, and operation of gambling establishments as well as certain financial services conducted at such establishments. The stated policies and other purposes behind such laws, regulations, and ordinances are generally to: (i) ensure the public’s trust and confidence in legalized gambling through a system of mandated regulation, internal controls, accounting practices, and operating procedures; and (ii) promote economic activity for the state, county, and local governments through revenue opportunities emanating from taxes, licensing fees, and other economic benefits arising out of gambling and related activities.
A description of the material regulations to which we are subject is set forth below.
Gaming Authorities
. We are regulated by various city, county, state, provincial, federal, tribal, and foreign government agencies (collectively, “Gaming Authorities”) in the jurisdictions where we conduct business as either a: (i) manufacturer of gaming devices, in those jurisdictions where we manufacture gaming devices and systems; (ii) supplier of “associated equipment,” in those jurisdictions where we sell and service fully integrated kiosks and other integrated kiosk solutions; and (iii) non-gaming supplier or vendor, in those jurisdictions where we provide cash access and Central Credit services only. We must maintain those licenses, registrations, or other approvals in good standing to continue our business. Gaming Authorities have broad discretion in determining whether to grant a license, registration, or other approval. Subject to complying with certain procedural requirements, Gaming Authorities may deny any application, or limit, condition, restrict, revoke or suspend any license, registration, finding of suitability, qualification, or other approval for any cause deemed reasonable to them.
Approvals, Licensing and Suitability
The process of obtaining necessary licenses, registrations, or other approvals often involves substantial disclosure of confidential or proprietary information about us and our officers, directors, key personnel and, in certain instances, beneficial owners of our debt or equity securities, and requires a determination by the regulators as to our suitability as a manufacturer, supplier, or vendor to gaming establishments. Gaming regulatory authorities have broad discretion and may require any beneficial holder of our securities, regardless of the number of shares of common stock or amount of debt securities owned, to file an application, make personal or confidential disclosures, be investigated, and be subject to a determination of suitability. Many jurisdictions require any person who acquires beneficial ownership of more than a certain percentage of voting securities of a gaming company and, in some jurisdictions, non-voting securities, typically 5%, to report the acquisition to Gaming Authorities, and Gaming Authorities may require such holders to apply for qualification or a finding of suitability, subject to limited exceptions for “institutional investors” that hold a company’s voting securities for investment purposes only.
Product Approvals
Our gaming devices and certain other products and technologies must be certified or approved by Gaming Authorities in many jurisdictions where we conduct business. These Gaming Authorities test the gaming devices, systems, and related equipment directly or through an independent testing laboratory and may also require a field trial under the regulator’s technical standards before allowing us to sell the product. Although we collaborate closely with the Gaming Authorities and independent testing laboratories, we cannot control whether our products will be approved or the length of time taken to review our products for sale to third parties. Moreover, there are no guarantees that we will be successful in obtaining and maintaining all necessary licenses, permits, and approvals and to continue to hold other necessary gaming licenses, permits, and approvals to conduct our businesses either as currently being conducted by us or to expand our businesses.
Our Native American customers are regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”), which was established by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (“IGRA”). The NIGC has regulatory authority over certain aspects of Native American gaming and defines the boundaries of our dealings with the Native American marketplace and the level of regulatory authority to which these games are subject. IGRA establishes three classes of gaming, each with a different regulatory framework:
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Class
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Type of Games
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Regulatory Oversight
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I
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Social gaming for minimal prizes and traditional Indian gaming.
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Exclusive regulation and oversight by tribal governments.
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II
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Bingo (both in traditional and electronic form).
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Regulation by tribal governments with NIGC oversight.
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III
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Casino style games (including slot machines, blackjack, craps, and roulette).
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Must be permitted by the state in which the tribe is located. The state and the tribe must have negotiated a compact approved by NIGC, and the tribe must have adopted a gaming ordinance approved by the NIGC.
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We sell our gaming devices and systems in both Class II and Class III markets.
Class III gaming on Native American tribal lands is usually subject to the negotiation of a compact between the tribe and the proximate state attendant to where the tribe intends to operate a gaming facility. These tribal-state compacts typically include provisions entitling the state to receive significant sums of money in exchange for the tribe’s operation of Class III gaming. While tribal-state compacts are intended to document the agreement between the state and a tribe, these tribal-state compacts can be subject to disputes relative to permitted Class III gaming operations.
The Johnson Act
. The Johnson Act, as amended by the federal Gambling Devices Act of 1962 (the “Johnson Act”), requires that we register annually with the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice and requires a wide variety of record keeping and equipment identification efforts on our part. Registration is required in order for us to sell, distribute, manufacture, transport, or receive gaming equipment, machines, or components across state lines. If we fail to comply with the requirements set forth under the Johnson Act, we could become subject to a variety of penalties, including, but not limited to, the seizure and forfeiture of equipment.
Internet and Online Gaming Regulation
. Several states have passed implementing legislation and regulations to allow certain intra-state, wager-based, online casino, or lottery games, such as online poker, online lottery, lottery ticket purchases, or lottery ticket subscriptions. To date, several states have authorized some form of Internet or online gaming or lottery activities.
However, the legislative and regulatory framework governing these activities may continue to evolve in the future.
Financial Services Regulation
Our FinTech business is also subject to a number of financial services regulations:
Durbin Amendment
. Rules promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, required as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), including the so-called Durbin Amendment (the “Durbin Amendment”), establish, among other things, standards for assessing whether debit card interchange fees received by certain debit card issuers are reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by issuers for electronic debit transactions. Debit card interchange fees are established by payment card networks and ultimately paid by merchants to debit card issuers for each debit transaction.
Anti-Money Laundering
. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, other federal statutes, generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act, and implementing federal regulations require us to establish and maintain an anti-money laundering program. Our anti-money laundering program includes: internal policies, procedures, and controls designed to identify and report money laundering, a designated compliance officer, an ongoing employee training program, and an independent audit function to test the program. In addition, the cash access services that we provide are subject to record keeping and reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. Our gaming establishment customers are required to file a SAR with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to report any suspicious transactions relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. We are also required to file a SAR where we provide our cash access services directly to patrons through financial services centers that we staff and operate. To be reportable, such a transaction must meet criteria that are designed to identify the hiding or disguising of funds derived from illegal activities. Our gaming establishment customers, in situations where our cash access services are provided through gaming establishment cashier personnel, and we, in situations where we provide our cash access services through a financial services center, are required to file a CTR of each deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency, or other payment or transfer by, through, or to us which involves a transaction in currency of more than $10,000 in a single day. Our CashClub
®
product can assist in identifying transactions that give rise to reporting obligations.
Fund Transfers
. Our POS debit card cash access transactions, credit card cash access transactions, and ATM services are subject to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which provides cardholders with rights with respect to electronic fund transfers, including the right to dispute unauthorized charges, charges that list the wrong date or amount, charges for goods and services that are not accepted or delivered as agreed, math errors, and charges for which a cardholder asks for an explanation or written proof of transaction along with a claimed error or request for clarification. We believe the necessary policies and procedures have been implemented throughout our organization in order to comply with the regulatory requirements for fund transfers.
State Money Transmission Laws
. Many states where we complete credit card cash access and POS debit card cash access transactions or offer our online payment processing solution require us to have a money transmitter license.
Credit Reporting
. Our Central Credit gaming patron credit bureau services and check verification and warranty services are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (the “FACTA”) and their implementing rules, which require consumer credit bureaus, such as Central Credit, to provide credit report information to businesses only for certain purposes and to otherwise safeguard credit report information, to disclose to consumers their credit report on request, and to permit consumers to dispute and correct inaccurate or incomplete information in their credit report. These laws and rules also govern the information that may be contained in a consumer credit report. We continue to implement policies and procedures as well as adapt our business practices in order to comply with these laws and regulations. In addition to federal regulations, our Central Credit gaming patron credit bureau services are subject to the state credit reporting regulations that impose similar requirements to the FCRA and the FACTA.
Debt Collection
. We currently outsource most of our debt collection efforts to third parties. However, we do engage in debt collection to collect on chargebacks on our cash access products and unpaid balances
for services performed for our check services, Central Credit services, compliance services, receivables relating to the sale and service of our fully integrated kiosks and other integrated kiosk solutions, and other amounts owing to us in connection with
performing various services for our customers. All such collection practices may be subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”), which prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive debt collection practices, as well as consumer-debt-collection laws and regulations adopted by the various states.
Privacy Regulations
. Our collection of information from patrons who use our financial products and services, such as our cash access services, are subject to the financial information privacy protection provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (the “GLBA”) and its implementing federal regulations. We gather, as permitted by law, non-public, personally-identifiable financial information from patrons who use our cash access services, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, bank and credit card account numbers, and transaction information. The GLBA requires us to safeguard and protect the privacy of such non-public personal information and also requires us to make disclosures to patrons regarding our privacy and information sharing policies and give patrons the opportunity to direct us not to disclose information about them to unaffiliated third parties in certain situations. We are also subject to state privacy regulations which, in some cases, may be even stricter than federal law. We continue to implement policies and programs as well as adapt our business practices in order to comply with federal and state privacy laws and regulations. In addition, we are also subject to foreign data protection and privacy laws including, but not limited to, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective in May 2018 and requires companies to meet new requirements regarding data privacy and security.
ATM Operations
. The Electronic Fund Transfer Act requires us to disclose certain notices regarding the fees that we charge for performing an ATM transaction as well as to incorporate such notices on the ATM screens to notify patrons of such fees prior to completing an ATM transaction. Our ATM services are also subject to applicable state banking regulations in each jurisdiction in which we operate ATMs which require, among other things, that we register with the state banking regulators as an operator of
ATMs, that we provide gaming patrons with notices of the transaction fees assessed upon use of our ATMs, that our transaction fees do not exceed designated maximums, that we offer gaming patrons a means of resolving disputes with us, and that we comply with prescribed safety and security requirements. In addition, the ATMs that we operate are subject to requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which in general require that ATMs be accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as visually-impaired persons.
Check Cashing
. In jurisdictions in which we serve as a check casher, we are required to be licensed by the applicable state banking regulator to operate as a check casher. Some states also impose restrictions on this activity, such as limits on the amounts of service fees that may be imposed on the cashing of certain types of checks, requirements as to records that must be kept with respect to dishonored checks and requirements as to the contents of receipts that must be delivered to gaming patrons at the time a check is cashed.
Network and Card Association Regulations
. In addition to the governmental regulation described above, some of our services are also subject to rules promulgated by various payment networks, EFT networks, and card associations. For example, we must comply with the Payment Card Industry (“PCI”) Data Security Standard. We have been designated as a compliant service provider under the PCI Data Security Standard. We must be certified to maintain our status as a compliant service provider on an annual basis.
EMV, designed to deter fraudulent card transactions related to identity theft, counterfeit cards, and the misuse of lost or stolen cards via enhanced card authentication, transaction authorization, and cardholder verification using chip-based smart-cards. EMV has been adopted in many regions of the world as the global standard for fraud deterrence in chip-based smart-card payments. In October 2015, the network and card associations began shifting liability for fraudulent POS and ATM transactions generated through EMV-capable cards onto merchants whose devices are not capable of processing chip-based smart-card EMV transactions. This shifts the responsibility for chargebacks due to fraudulent transactions on such cards from the card issuer onto the merchant.
As a merchant of cash access transactions processed through MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, all who have adopted the EMV standard, and as an operator of ATMs, our POS, fully integrated kiosk, and ATM devices are subject to the EMV standard. This requires us to maintain our fleet of U.S.-based POS, fully integrated kiosk, and ATM devices to support the EMV standard.
International Regulation
We are also subject to a variety of gaming and financial services regulations and other laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in the international markets in which we operate. We expect to become subject to additional gaming and financial services regulations and other laws in the jurisdictions into which we expand our operations. Our expansion into new markets is dependent upon our ability to comply with the regulatory regimes adopted by such jurisdictions.
In addition, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Regulation of Our Industry” for additional industry, state, and federal regulations impacting our business.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following section describes material risks and uncertainties that we believe may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or the market price of our stock. This section should be read in conjunction with our Financial Statements and Results of Operations included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have recorded net losses in each of the two fiscal years prior to fiscal year 2018 and we may not generate profits in the future.
We had net income of
$12.4 million
and net losses of $51.9 million and $249.5 million for the years ended
December 31, 2018
, 2017, and 2016, respectively. As a result of the interest payments on the indebtedness incurred in connection with Everi Holdings’ purchase of Everi Games Holding in December 2014 (the “Merger”), amortization of intangible assets associated with the Merger and other acquisitions, other related acquisition and financing costs, asset impairment charges, depreciation, and other amortization, we may not be able to generate profits in the future. Our ability to continue to generate net profits in the future will depend, in part, on our ability to:
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establish strategic business relationships with new and existing customers;
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sell our products and services into new markets and to new customers in existing markets and retain our existing customers;
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develop new games or license third-party content in our Games business and develop new products and services in our FinTech business;
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effectively manage a larger and more diversified workforce and business;
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react to changes, including technological and regulatory changes, in the markets we target or operate in;
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respond to competitive developments and challenges;
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continue to comply with the EMV global standard for cards equipped with security chip technology; and
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attract and retain experienced and talented personnel.
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We may not be able to do any of these successfully, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows, which could, among other things, affect our ability to make payments under our New Credit Facilities (defined herein) or the 2017 Unsecured Notes (as defined herein).
Our substantial leverage could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in our industry or the economy, expose us to interest rate risk to the extent of our variable rate debt, and prevent us from meeting our obligations with respect to our indebtedness.
As of
December 31, 2018
, our total indebtedness was approximately
$1.2 billion
, which included the New Credit Facilities and the 2017 Unsecured Notes, each of which contain restrictive covenants. Our high degree of leverage could have significant adverse effects on our business, including:
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requiring a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, therefore, reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures, and future business opportunities;
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making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness and any failure to comply with the obligations of any of our debt instruments, including restrictive covenants and borrowing conditions, could result in an event of default under the New Credit Facilities and the indentures governing the 2017 Unsecured Notes;
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increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, industry, or competitive developments;
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restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures;
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limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, debt service requirements, acquisitions, and general corporate or other purposes; and
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limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or market conditions and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors who are less highly leveraged or may have more resources than us and who therefore may be able to take advantage of opportunities that our leverage prevents us from exploiting, including pursuit and execution of potential future acquisitions.
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We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness, including the New Credit Facilities and the 2017 Unsecured Notes, and fund our working capital and capital expenditures, and we may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on our indebtedness, including the New Credit Facilities and the 2017 Unsecured Notes, will depend upon our future operating performance and on our ability to generate cash flow in the future, which is subject to general economic, financial, business, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings, including those under the New Credit Facilities, will be available to us in an amount sufficient to pay our indebtedness or to fund other liquidity needs.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investment and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, seek additional equity capital, or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. We may not be able to affect any such alternative
measures, if necessary, on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, such alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. The New Credit Facilities and the indenture governing the 2017 Unsecured Notes restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from any such disposition.
If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default. As a result, the holders of the 2017 Unsecured Notes could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable; the lenders under the New Credit Facilities could declare all outstanding amounts under such facilities due and payable and terminate their commitments to loan money; and, in each case, could foreclose against the assets securing the borrowings under the New Credit Facilities. Such actions could force us into bankruptcy or liquidation.
If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness before maturity. We may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain sufficient funds to enable us to repay or refinance our debt obligations on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
The agreements and instruments governing our debt impose restrictions that may limit our operating and financial flexibility.
The New Credit Facilities and the indenture governing the 2017 Unsecured Notes contain a number of significant restrictions and covenants that limit our ability to:
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incur additional indebtedness;
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sell assets or consolidate or merge with or into other companies;
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pay dividends or repurchase or redeem capital stock;
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make certain investments;
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issue capital stock of our subsidiaries;
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prepay, redeem, or repurchase subordinated debt; and
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enter into certain types of transactions with our affiliates.
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These covenants could have the effect of limiting our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our business and the markets in which we compete. In addition, the New Credit Facilities require us to comply with a financial maintenance covenant under certain circumstances. Operating results below current levels or other adverse factors, including a significant increase in interest rates, could result in our being unable to comply with the financial covenants contained in the New Credit Facilities, if applicable. If we violate this covenant and are unable to obtain a waiver from our lenders, our debt under the New Credit Facilities would be in default and could be accelerated by our lenders. Based on cross-default provisions in the agreements and instruments governing our indebtedness, a default under one agreement or instrument could result in a default under, and the acceleration of, our other indebtedness. In addition, the lenders under the New Credit Facilities could proceed against the collateral securing that indebtedness.
If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may not be able to repay our debt or borrow sufficient funds to refinance it. Even if we are able to obtain new financing, it may not be on commercially reasonable terms, on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If our debt is in default for any reason, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, complying with these covenants may make it more difficult for us to successfully execute our business strategy and compete against companies that are not subject to such restrictions.
Our net operating losses and other tax credit carry-forwards are subject to limitations that could potentially reduce these tax assets.
As of
December 31, 2018
, we had tax effected federal and state net operating loss (“NOL”) carry-forwards of approximately
$83.0 million
and
$14.1 million
, respectively, federal research and development credit carry-forwards of approximately
$8.5 million
, and foreign tax credit carry-forwards of approximately
$0.5 million
. The federal net operating losses can be carried forward and applied to offset taxable income for 20 years and will expire starting in 2022 (for losses incurred before 2018). An estimated federal loss incurred in 2018 of approximately $8.2 million, tax effected, can be carried forward indefinitely to offset taxable income. The state net operating loss carry-forwards will expire between 2019 and 2039. The federal research and development credits are limited to a 20 year carry-forward period and will begin to expire in varying amounts in 2029, if not utilized. The foreign tax credits, which have a full valuation allowance, can be carried forward 10 years and will expire in 2020, if not utilized.
Based on the weight of available evidence, including both positive and negative indicators, if it is more likely than not that a portion, or all, of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, we must consider recording a valuation allowance. Greater weight is given to evidence that is objectively verifiable, most notably historical results. We are in a cumulative loss position and we have decreased our valuation allowance for deferred tax assets related to these NOL and other tax credit carry-forwards, excluding the 2018 federal NOL, by
$10.1 million
during 2018. Our ability to utilize the remaining NOL and other tax credit carry-forwards to reduce taxable income in future years may be further limited, including the possibility that projected future taxable income is insufficient to realize the benefit of these NOL carry-forwards prior to their expiration. To the extent our results of operations do not improve, we may not have the ability to overcome the more likely than not accounting standard that would allow us to reverse the valuation allowance and may be subject to record an additional valuation allowance in the future.
Our ability to use these tax assets could be adversely affected by the limitations of Sections 382, 383, and 384 of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, a portion of our NOL’s include amortization of goodwill for tax purposes associated with a restructuring that occurred in 2004, which could be subject to audit by the IRS and thus may have an adverse effect on our NOL carry-forwards.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“2017 Tax Act”) could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Due to the 2017 Tax Act, net operating losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 are limited in use to offset 80% of taxable income without the ability to carryback such net operating losses, however, with an indefinite carry-forward of such net operating losses (instead of the former 2-year carryback and 20-year carry-forward for net operating losses arising in taxable years beginning before December 31, 2017). The amount of the net U.S. federal interest expense deduction is generally limited to (a) 30% of adjusted taxable income, calculated without regard to depreciation, amortization, depletion or interest, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2022 and (b) 30% of adjusted taxable income, calculated without regard to interest (reduced by depreciation, amortization and depletion), effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. Disallowed amounts may be carried forward indefinitely, subject to ownership change limitations.
U.S. corporations are also subject to current tax on global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) earned by certain foreign subsidiaries and a base erosion anti-avoidance tax. The 2017 Tax Act changes are complex and subject to additional guidance to be issued by the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, the individual states’ reactions to the federal tax changes are evolving. As a result, the overall long-term impact of the 2017 Tax Act is uncertain. It is possible that the application of any new rules may have a material and adverse impact on our operating results, cash flows, and financial condition.
We may experience network or system failures, or service interruptions, including cybersecurity attacks, or other technology risks. Our inability to protect our systems and data against such risks could harm our business and reputation.
Our ability to provide uninterrupted and high levels of services depends upon the performance of our internal network, systems and related infrastructure, and those of our third-party vendors. Any significant interruptions in, or degradation of, the quality of the services, including infrastructure storage and support, that these third parties provide to us could severely harm our business and reputation and lead to the loss of customers and revenue. Our internal network, systems, and related infrastructure, in addition to the networks, systems, and related infrastructure of our third-party technology vendors, may be vulnerable to computer viruses and other malware that infiltrate such systems and networks, as well as physical or electronic security breaches, natural disasters, and similar disruptions. They have been and may continue to be the target of attempts to identify and exploit network and system vulnerabilities, penetrate or bypass security measures in order to interrupt or degrade the quality of the services we receive, or provide or otherwise gain unauthorized access to our networks and systems or those of our third-party vendors. These vulnerabilities or other attempts at access may result from, or be caused by, human error or technology failures, however, they may also be the product of malicious actions by third parties intending to harm our business. The methods that may be used by these third parties to cause service interruptions or failures or to obtain unauthorized access to information change frequently, are difficult to detect, evolve rapidly, and are increasingly sophisticated and hard to defend against. Although we have not incurred material losses or liabilities as a result of security breaches or attempted security breaches, we cannot be certain that our defensive measures, and those employed by our third-party vendors, will be sufficient to defend against all such current and future methods.
Our careful vetting of third parties to provide technology services and the contractual requirements related to the security that we impose on our third-party vendors who have access to this data may not be sufficient to protect us from network or system failures or service interruptions.
Any security breach, whether experienced by us or a third-party vendor, may be material and lead to harm to our financial condition, business reputation, and prospects of future business due to, among other factors: loss of customer confidence arising from interruptions or outages of our services, delays, failure to meet contractual obligations, and loss of data or public release of confidential data; increase regulatory scrutiny on us; compromise our trade secret and intellectual property; expose us to costly uninsured liabilities such as material fines, penalties, liquidated damages, and overall margin compression due to renegotiation of contracts on less favorable terms or loss of business; and liability for claims relating to misuse of personal information in violation of contractual obligations or data privacy laws. The occurrence of any such failure may also subject us to costly lawsuits,
claims for contractual indemnities, and negatively impact the status of our gaming regulatory licenses up to and including revocation, as well as divert valuable management, engineering, information technology, and marketing resources toward addressing these issues, delaying our ability to achieve our strategic initiatives. In the event our EGMs or cash access products, systems, or networks are compromised, gaming establishments may require us to remediate any abnormality, downtime, loss of use, or suspicious activity or require us to indemnify casino operators for lost business and, potentially, their patrons. In addition, we gather, as permitted by law, non-public, personally-identifiable financial information from patrons who use our cash access services, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, bank and credit card account numbers, and transaction information, the compromise of such data, which may subject us to fines and other related costs of remediation.
The insurance we maintain against cybersecurity and related risks may not cover all losses that we could suffer.
The gaming industry is intensely competitive, and if we are unable to compete effectively, our business could be negatively impacted.
The market for gaming devices, cash access products, and related services is highly competitive, and we expect competition to increase and intensify in the future. In both our Games and FinTech businesses, some of our competitors and potential competitors have significant advantages over us, including greater name recognition; longer operating histories; pre-existing relationships with current or potential customers with respect to other financial services; greater financial, research, design, development, marketing, technological, and other resources; and more ready access to capital resources, which allow them to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities, be in a better position to compete and, in respect of our cash access business, to pay higher commissions or other incentives to gaming establishments in order to gain new customers. In our FinTech business, we compete with other established providers of cash access products and services, including third-party transaction processors, financial institutions, and other regional and local banks that operate ATMs on the premises of gaming establishments. To the extent that we lose customers to these competitors, or competitive pressures force us to offer incentives or less favorable pricing terms to us to establish or maintain relationships with gaming establishments, our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.
Consolidation among our customers or competitors could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and profitability.
We often execute contracts with customers pursuant to which we provide products and services at multiple gaming establishments. Accordingly, the expiration or termination of a single key contract can mean the loss of multiple gaming facilities at which many of our products and services are used. Consolidation among operators of gaming establishments may also result in the loss of customers, if one of our customers is acquired by a business that utilizes one of our competitors, or significant margin compression, if rates vary between acquiring and acquired customers. Consolidation among our competitors in either the Games or FinTech sectors will only increase advantages these competitors may have over us as we compete for these customers, including even greater financial, research, design, development, marketing, technological, and other resources, the ability to offer customers more favorable rates and prices due to lower operating costs resulting from efficiencies of scale and varying margins of a larger product portfolio, among other factors.
Our business depends on our ability to introduce new, commercially viable games, products, and services in a timely manner.
Our success is dependent on our ability to develop and sell new games, products, and services that are attractive not only to our customers, but also to their customers, the gaming patrons. If our games, products, and services do not appeal to gaming operators and patrons, or do not meet or sustain revenue and profitability of contractual obligations and expectations, we may lose business to our competitors. Additionally, we may be unable to enhance existing games, products, and services in a timely manner in response to changing regulatory, legal, or market conditions, customer requirements, or new games, products, and services may not achieve market acceptance in new or existing markets. Delay in regulatory approvals of new gaming devices and equipment may adversely impact new product deployment. If we are unable to keep pace with rapid innovations in new technologies or product design and deployment or if we are unable to quickly adapt our development, manufacturing, or sales processes to compete, our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows could suffer a material adverse effect.
Our business is dependent upon consumer demand for gaming and overall economic trends specific to the gaming industry. Economic downturns or a decline in the popularity of gaming could reduce the number of patrons that use our products and services or the amounts of cash that they access using our services.
We provide our gaming-related and cash access products and services almost exclusively to gaming establishments. As a result, our business depends on consumer demand for gaming. Gaming is a discretionary leisure activity, participation in which has in the past and may in the future decline during periods of (i) economic growth, due to changes in consumers’ spending habits; (ii) economic downturns, due to decreases in our customers’ disposable income or general tourism activities; and (iii) declining consumer confidence, due to general economic conditions, domestic- and geo-political concerns, or other factors. Gaming competes with other leisure activities as a form of consumer entertainment and may lose popularity as new leisure activities arise or as other
leisure activities become more popular. In addition, gaming in traditional gaming establishments (to which we sell our products and services) competes with Internet-based gaming. The popularity and acceptance of gaming is also influenced by the prevailing social mores and changes in social mores, including changes driven by social responsibility organizations that are dedicated to addressing problem gaming, which could result in reduced acceptance of gaming as a leisure activity or litigation or lobbying efforts focused on limiting gaming activities. To the extent that the popularity or availability of gaming in traditional gaming establishments declines as a result of any of these factors, the demand for our cash access and gaming-related products and services, or the willingness of our customers to spend new capital on acquiring gaming equipment or utilize revenue share agreements, may decline and our business may be harmed.
We may not successfully enter new markets and potential new markets may not develop quickly, or at all.
If and as new and developing domestic markets develop, competition among providers of gaming-related and cash access products and services will intensify. We will face a number of hurdles in our attempts to enter these markets, including the need to expand our sales and marketing presence, compete against pre-existing relationships that our target customers may have with our competitors, the uncertainty of compliance with new or developing regulatory regimes (including regulatory regimes relating to Internet gaming) with which we are not currently familiar, and oversight by regulators that are not familiar with us or our businesses. Each of these risks could materially impair our ability to successfully expand our operations into these new and developing domestic markets.
In addition, as we attempt to sell our gaming-related and cash access products and services into international markets in which we have not previously operated, we may become exposed to political, economic, tax, legal, and regulatory risks not faced by businesses that operate only in the United States. The legal and regulatory regimes of foreign markets and their ramifications on our business may be less certain. Our international operations may be subject to a variety of risks, including different regulatory requirements and interpretations, trade barriers, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, higher rates of fraud, compliance with anti-corruption and export control laws, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, difficulty in enforcing or interpreting contracts or legislation, political and economic instability, and potentially adverse tax consequences. Difficulties in obtaining approvals, licenses, or waivers from the monetary and Gaming Authorities of other jurisdictions, in addition to other potential regulatory and quasi-regulatory issues that we have not yet ascertained, may arise in international jurisdictions into which we attempt to enter. In these new markets, our operations will rely on an infrastructure of, among other things, financial services and telecommunications facilities that may not be sufficient to support our business needs. In these new markets, we may additionally provide services based upon interpretations of applicable law, which interpretation may be subject to regulatory or judicial review. These risks, among others, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operations. In connection with our expansion into new international markets, we may forge strategic relationships with business partners to assist us. The success of our expansion into these markets therefore may depend in part upon the success of the business partners with whom we forge these strategic relationships. If we do not successfully form strategic relationships with the right business partners or if we are not able to overcome cultural or business practice differences, our ability to penetrate these new international markets could suffer.
We are subject to the risk that the domestic or international markets we attempt to enter or expand into may not develop as quickly as anticipated, or at all. The development of new gaming markets is subject to political, social, regulatory, and economic forces beyond our control. The expansion of gaming activities in new markets can be very controversial and may depend heavily on the support and sponsorship of local government, and may be based upon interpretations of newly enacted laws, the interpretation of which may be subject to regulatory or judicial review. Changes in government leadership, failure to obtain requisite voter support in referendums, failure of legislators to enact enabling legislation, and limitations on the volume of gaming activity that is permitted in particular markets may inhibit the development of new markets. Further, our estimates of the potential future opportunities in new markets are based on a variety of assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. To the extent that we overestimate the potential of a new market, incorrectly gauge the timing of the development of a new market, or fail to anticipate the differences between a new market and our existing markets, we may fail in our strategy of growing our business by expanding into new markets. Moreover, if we are unable to meet the needs of our existing customers as they enter markets that we do not currently serve, our relationships with these customers could be harmed.
We may not realize satisfactory returns on money loaned or otherwise funded to new and existing customers to develop or expand gaming facilities.
In our gaming business, we enter into placement fee agreements typically to secure a long-term revenue share percentage and a fixed number of player terminal placements in the gaming facility. These placement fee arrangements may provide for the removal of our player terminal placements in the event of poor game performance with no further obligation of the gaming customer. Additionally, we have historically entered into development fee arrangements and may continue to do so in the future. Under the development fee arrangements, we provide financing for construction, expansion, or remodeling of gaming facilities in exchange for a long-term revenue share percentage and a fixed number of player terminal placements in the gaming
facility until the development fee is repaid to us. The success of these ventures is dependent upon the timely completion of the gaming facility, the placement and performance of our player terminals, and a favorable regulatory environment. Our development and placement efforts and financing activities may result in operating difficulties, financial and regulatory risks, or required expenditures that could materially and adversely affect our liquidity. In connection with one or more of these transactions, and to obtain the necessary development and placement fee funds, we may need to extend secured and unsecured credit to potential or existing customers that may not be repaid, incur debt on terms unfavorable to us, incur difficulties in perfecting security interests in collateral on Indian lands, or that we are unable to repay, or incur other contingent liabilities. The failure to maintain controls and processes related to our collection efforts or the deterioration of regulatory or financial condition of our customers could negatively impact our business.
If we are unable to develop and protect our intellectual property adequately or obtain intellectual property rights and agreements, we may lose valuable competitive advantages, be forced to incur costly litigation to protect our rights, or be restricted in our ability to provide various products in our markets.
Our success depends, in part, on developing and protecting our intellectual property. We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and contractual restrictions to protect our intellectual property. We also rely on other confidentiality and contractual agreements and arrangements with our employees, affiliates, business partners, and customers to establish and protect our intellectual property and similar proprietary rights. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in protecting these rights and, despite our efforts, our trade secrets and proprietary know-how could become known to, or independently developed by, competitors. Any litigation relating to the defense of our intellectual property, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs to us and potentially cause a diversion of our resources.
In addition, we may face claims of infringement that could interfere with our ability to use technology or other intellectual property rights that are material to our business operations. In the event a claim of infringement against us is successful, we may be required to pay royalties to use technology or other intellectual property rights that we had been using, or we may be required to enter into a license agreement and pay license fees, or we may be required to stop using the technology or other intellectual property rights that we had been using. We may be unable to obtain necessary licenses from third parties at a reasonable cost or within a reasonable amount of time. Any litigation of this type, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs to us and potentially cause a diversion of our resources.
We rely on technology provided by third-party vendors, the loss of which could materially and adversely affect our business, increase our costs, and delay deployment or suspend development of our financial services products, gaming systems, and player terminals.
We have entered into license agreements with third parties for the exclusive use of their technology and intellectual property rights in the gaming industry, such as our license to use portions of the software infrastructure upon which our cash access systems operate, and we also rely on third-party manufacturers to manufacture our gaming devices, fully integrated kiosks, and other integrated kiosk solutions. We rely on these other parties to maintain and protect this technology and the related intellectual property rights. If our licensors fail to protect their intellectual property rights in material that we license and we are unable to protect such intellectual property rights, the value of our licenses may diminish significantly and our business could be significantly harmed. In addition, if these agreements expire and we are unable to renew them, or if the manufacturers of this software or hardware, or functional equivalents of this software or hardware, were either no longer available to us or no longer offered to us on commercially reasonable terms, we may lose a valuable competitive advantage and our business could be harmed.
Acts of God, adverse weather and shipping difficulties, particularly with respect to international third-party suppliers of our components, could cause significant production delays. If we are unable to obtain these components from our established third-party vendors, we could be required to either redesign our product to function with alternate third-party products or to develop or manufacture these components ourselves, which would result in increased costs and could result in delays in the deployment of our gaming systems and player terminals. Furthermore, we might be forced to limit the features available in our current or future offerings.
We rely on intellectual property licenses from one or more third-party competitors, the loss of which could materially and adversely affect our business and the sale or placement of our products. Various third-party gaming manufacturers with which we compete are much larger than us and have substantially larger intellectual property assets. The gaming manufacturer industry is very competitive and litigious, and a lawsuit brought by one of our larger competitors, whether or not well-founded, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows and our ability to sell or place our products.
Our inability to identify business opportunities and future acquisitions, or successfully execute any of our identified business opportunities or future acquisitions could limit our future growth.
From time to time, we pursue strategic acquisitions in support of our strategic goals. In connection with any such acquisitions, we could face significant challenges in timely securing required approvals of Gaming Authorities, or managing and integrating our expanded or combined operations, including acquired assets, operations, and personnel. There can be no assurance that acquisition opportunities will be available on acceptable terms or at all or that we will be able to obtain necessary financing or regulatory approvals to complete potential acquisitions.
We may not achieve the intended benefits of our acquisitions, if any, nor may we be able to integrate those businesses successfully, and any such acquisitions may disrupt our current plans and operations.
Our ability to succeed in implementing our strategy will depend to some degree upon the ability of our management to successfully integrate commercially viable acquisitions. Acquisition transactions may disrupt our ongoing business and distract management from other responsibilities. The expected cost synergies associated with such acquisitions may not be fully realized in the anticipated amounts or within the contemplated timeframes or cost expectations, which could result in increased costs and have an adverse effect on our prospects, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition. Our businesses may be negatively impacted if we are unable to effectively manage our expanded operations. The integration of these acquisitions will require significant time and focus from management and may divert attention from the day‑to‑day operations of the combined business or delay the achievement of our strategic objectives. We expect to incur incremental costs and capital expenditures related to our contemplated integration activities.
The risks we commonly encounter in acquisitions include:
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if, in addition to our current indebtedness, we incur significant debt to finance a future acquisition and our combined business does not perform as expected, we may have difficulty complying with debt covenants;
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we may be unable to make a future acquisition which is in our best interest due to our current level of indebtedness;
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if we use our stock to make a future acquisition, it will dilute existing stockholders;
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we may have difficulty assimilating the operations and personnel of any acquired company;
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the challenge and additional investment involved with integrating new products and technologies into our sales and marketing process;
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we may have difficulty effectively integrating any acquired technologies or products with our current products and technologies, particularly where such products reside on different technology platforms or overlap with our products;
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our ongoing business may be disrupted by transition and integration issues;
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the costs and complexity of integrating the internal information technology infrastructure of each acquired business with ours may be greater than expected and may require additional capital investments;
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we may not be able to retain key technical and managerial personnel from an acquired business;
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we may be unable to achieve the financial and strategic goals for any acquired and combined businesses;
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we may have difficulty in maintaining controls, procedures, and policies during the transition and integration period following a future acquisition;
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our relationships with partner companies or third-party providers of technology or products could be adversely affected;
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our relationships with employees and customers could be impaired;
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our due diligence process may fail to identify significant issues with product quality, product architecture, legal, or tax contingencies, customer obligations, and product development, among other things;
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as successor we may be subject to certain liabilities of our acquisition targets;
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we may face new intellectual property challenges; and
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we may be required to sustain significant exit or impairment charges if products acquired in business combinations are unsuccessful.
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Our failure to effectively integrate any future acquisition would adversely affect the benefit of such transaction, including potential synergies or sales growth opportunities, in the time frame anticipated.
We operate our business in regions subject to natural disasters. Any interruption to our business resulting from a natural disaster will adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.
In the event of a natural disaster, the operations of gaming establishments could be negatively impacted or consumer demand for gaming could decline, or both, and as a result, our business could be interrupted, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues and results of operations. Adverse weather conditions, particularly flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy snowfall, and other extreme weather conditions often deter our customer’s end users from traveling or make it difficult for them to frequent the sites where our games and FinTech equipment are installed. If any of those sites experienced prolonged adverse weather conditions, or if the sites in the State of Oklahoma, where a significant number of our games and FinTech equipment are installed, simultaneously experienced adverse weather conditions, our results of business, financial condition, and operations could be materially and adversely affected. During 2018, the impact of weather-related natural disasters resulted in business disruption at certain of our customers’ facilities.
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from Native American tribal customers, and our ability to effectively operate in Native American gaming markets is vulnerable to legal and regulatory uncertainties, including the ability to enforce contractual rights on Native American land.
We derive a significant percentage of our revenue from the provision of cash access and gaming-related products and services to gaming facilities operated on Native American lands.
Native American tribes that are federally recognized are considered “domestic dependent nations” with certain sovereign rights and, in the absence of a specific grant of authority by Congress to a state or a specific compact or agreement between a tribal entity and a state that would allow the state to regulate activities taking place on Native American lands, such tribes can enact their own laws and regulate gaming operations and contracts. In this capacity, Native American tribes generally enjoy a degree of sovereign immunity, which, among other things, recognizes a tribe’s inherent authority of self-determination and self-governance, immunizes the tribe from certain lawsuits outside of tribal jurisdiction, and generally authorizes a tribe’s powers of taxation and spending over its federally-recognized nation. Accordingly, before we can seek to enforce contract rights with a Native American tribe, or an agency or instrumentality of a Native American tribe, we must obtain from the Native American tribe a general or limited waiver of its sovereign immunity with respect to the matter in dispute, which we are not always able to do. Without a general or limited waiver of sovereign immunity, or if such waiver is held to be ineffective, we could be precluded from judicially enforcing any rights or remedies against a Native American tribe, including the right to enter Native American lands to retrieve our property in the event of a breach of contract by the tribal party to that contract. Governing law and venue provisions in our contracts with Native American tribal customers vary widely and may not be enforceable.
Further, certain Native American tribes require us to contract or subcontract to provide all or some portion of our services with entities that are owned, controlled, or managed by tribal members or related parties. Our ability to provide our services is dependent upon our relationship with these third parties and their ability to provide services in accordance with the terms of our contractual arrangement with these third parties and, in some instances, the third parties’ relationship or contractual arrangement with the applicable tribal gaming casino or tribe.
Government enforcement, regulatory action, judicial decisions, and proposed legislative action have in the past, and will likely continue to affect our business, financial condition, operations, cash flows, and prospects in Native American tribal lands. The legal and regulatory uncertainties surrounding our Native American tribal agreements could result in a significant and immediate material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows. For example, certain of our agreements with Native American tribes are subject to review by regulatory authorities. Additionally, such uncertainties could increase our cost of doing business and could take management’s attention away from operations. Regulatory action against our customers or equipment in these or other markets could result in machine seizures and significant revenue disruptions, among other adverse consequences. Moreover, Native American tribal policies and procedures, as well as tribal selection of gaming vendors, are subject to the political and governance environment within each Native American tribe. Changes in tribal leadership or tribal political pressure can affect our business relationships within Native American markets.
Most of our leased gaming device contracts with our customers are short-term, and if we are unable to maintain our current customers on terms that are favorable to us, our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer a material adverse effect.
Most of our leased gaming device contracts with our customers are generally short-term, except for customers with whom we have entered into development and placement fee agreements. We do not rely upon the stated term of our gaming device contracts to retain the business of our customers. We rely instead upon providing competitive player terminals, games, and systems to give
our customers the incentive to continue doing business with us. At any point in time, a significant portion of our gaming device business is subject to nonrenewal, which may materially and adversely affect our earnings, financial condition, and cash flows. To renew or extend any of our customer contracts, generally, we may be required to accept financial and other terms that are less favorable to us than the terms of the expired contracts. In addition, we may not succeed in renewing customer contracts when they expire. If we are required to agree to other less favorable terms to retain our customers or we are not able to renew our relationships with our customers upon the expiration of our contracts, our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows could suffer a material adverse effect.
Tribal gaming customers who have historically operated large quantities of Class II gaming units may negotiate into arrangements with state governments or renegotiate existing gaming compacts that could impact the amount of Class II gaming devices currently supplied by the Company. If we are unable to maintain our existing placement of units, then our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect.
As of
December 31, 2018
, we operated
9,370
Class II gaming units under lease or daily fixed fee arrangements to our customers. Customers who enter into compacts with state governments may desire to change from Class II gaming units to Class III gaming units, as Class III units generally perform better than Class II units. This may result in the loss of placements under lease or daily fixed fee arrangements as customers purchase or lease Class III units from other equipment suppliers to replace our existing Class II units. If we are unable to replace these lost units with our proprietary Class III units, then our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect.
If we are unable to renew our contract with the New York State Gaming Commission, our revenues, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect.
Our contract to provide an accounting and central determinant system for the VLTs in the State of New York has provided Games segment revenues of approximately
$18.5 million
for the year ended
December 31, 2018
and $18.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. In January 2018, an amendment to the agreement between Everi Games and the New York State Gaming Commission was approved and became effective. Under this amendment, Everi Games will continue to provide and maintain the central determinant system for the New York Lottery through December of 2019. Upon its expiration, if we are unsuccessful in renewing the contract, our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect.
An unexpectedly high level of chargebacks, as the result of fraud or otherwise, including in connection with new technology standards being implemented in the United States regarding chip-based cards, could materially and adversely affect our cash access business.
In 1994, Europay, MasterCard, and Visa jointly developed EMV, designed to deter fraudulent card transactions related to identity theft, counterfeit cards, and the misuse of lost or stolen cards via enhanced card authentication, transaction authorization, and cardholder verification using chip-based smart-cards. EMV has been adopted in many regions of the world as the global standard for fraud deterrence in chip based smart-card payments. To encourage adoption in the U.S., effective October 1, 2015, the U.S. payment card industry implemented new rules which shifted the liability for fraudulent transactions onto merchants if they elect to process transactions using the magnetic stripe when presented with a EMV chip-based smart-card. This shifted the responsibility for chargebacks due to fraudulent transactions on such cards from the card issuer onto the merchant. If we are unable to maintain compliant status with the EMV regulations, our cash access business may be adversely affected.
When patrons use our cash access services, we either dispense cash or produce a negotiable instrument that can be exchanged for cash. If a completed cash access transaction is subsequently disputed, and if we are unsuccessful in establishing the validity of the transaction, we may not be able to collect payment for such transaction and such transaction becomes a chargeback. In the event that we incur chargebacks in excess of specified levels, we could lose our sponsorship into the card associations or be censured by the card associations by way of fines or otherwise. Our failure to adequately manage our chargebacks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows.
Changes in consumer willingness to pay a convenience fee to access their funds could reduce the demand for our cash access products and services.
Our cash access business depends upon the willingness of patrons to pay a convenience fee to access their own funds on the premises of a gaming establishment. In most retail environments, consumers typically do not pay an additional fee for using non-cash payment methods such as credit cards, POS debit cards, or checks. Gaming patrons could bring more cash with them to gaming establishments or access cash outside of gaming establishments without paying a fee for the convenience of not having
to leave the gaming establishment. To the extent that gaming patrons become unwilling to pay these convenience fees or lower cost cash access alternatives become available, the demand for cash access services within gaming establishments will decline and our business could suffer.
Our 3-in-1 Rollover patent expired in early 2018 and our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect from our competitors’ use of this technology.
We no longer have the ability to extend our existing 3-in-1 Rollover patent, which allows a patron that has reached his or her daily ATM limit to obtain funds via a POS debit card cash access transaction or a credit card cash access transaction instead. As a result of the patent expiration, our competitors will have the ability to emulate this technology; and our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows may suffer an adverse effect.
Risks Related to Regulation of Our Industry
Unauthorized disclosure of cardholder and patron data or similar violations of applicable data privacy laws, whether through a security breach of our computer systems, our third-party processor’s computer systems or otherwise, or through our unauthorized use or transmission of such data could subject us to costly fines, penalties, and legal claims.
We collect and store personally identifiable information about cardholders and patrons that perform certain cash access and Central Credit transactions, including names, addresses, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and account numbers, and we maintain a database of cardholder and patron data, including account numbers, in order to process our cash access and Central Credit transactions. We also rely on our third-party processor and certain other technology partners to process and store cardholder and patron data relating to our cash access and Central Credit transactions. As a result, we, as well as our third-party processor, certain of our other technology providers, and some of our gaming establishment customers, are required to comply with various foreign, federal, and state privacy statutes and regulations, and the PCI Data Security Standard. Compliance with these regulations and requirements, which are subject to change at any time, is often difficult and costly, and our failure, or the failure of these other third parties, to comply may result in significant fines or civil penalties, regulatory enforcement action, liability to our sponsor bank, and termination of our agreements with our gaming establishment customers, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows. If our computer systems or those of our third-party processor or other technology providers suffer a security breach, we may be subject to liability, including claims for unauthorized transactions with misappropriated bank card information, impersonation, or similar fraud claims, as well as for any failure to comply with laws governing required notifications of such a breach, and these claims could result in protracted and costly litigation, penalties, or sanctions from the card associations and EFT payment networks, and damage to our reputation, which could reduce and limit our ability to provide cash access and related services to our gaming establishment customers.
The personally identifiable information we collect also includes our patrons’ transaction behavioral data and credit history data, which we may use to provide marketing and data intelligence services to gaming establishments. This information is increasingly subject to federal, state, and card association laws and regulations, as well as laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world. Governmental regulations are typically intended to protect the privacy and security of such data and information as well as to regulate the collection, storage, transmission, transfer, use, and distribution of such data and information. We could be materially and adversely affected if domestic or international laws or regulations are expanded to require changes in our business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their laws or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business or even prohibit us from offering certain marketing and data intelligence or other services. Similarly, if we are required to allocate significant resources to modify our internal operating systems and procedures to enable enhanced protection of patron data that we transmit, store and use, our business results could be adversely affected. In addition, we may face requirements that pose compliance challenges in new international markets that we seek to enter as various foreign jurisdictions have different laws and regulations concerning the storage, transmission and use of gaming patron data. Such variation could subject us to costs, liabilities, or negative publicity that could impair our ability to expand our operations into some countries; therefore, it could limit our future growth.
We are subject to extensive governmental gaming regulation, which may harm our business.
Our ability to conduct both our gaming and cash access businesses, expand operations, develop and distribute new games, products and systems, and expand into new gaming markets is also subject to significant federal, state, local, Native American and foreign regulations which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the United States and many other countries, gaming must be expressly authorized by law. Once authorized, such activities are subject to extensive and evolving governmental regulation. The gaming laws, regulations and ordinances generally concern the antecedents, acumen, financial stability and character of our owners, officers and directors, as well as those persons financially interested or involved in our companies; dictate the technical standards and regulations of our electronic player terminals, gaming systems and certain other products; set forth the process and manner by which the Gaming Authorities issue such licenses, findings of suitability and product approvals. In addition, the suspension, revocation, nonrenewal or limitation of any of our licenses or product approvals, or the inability to obtain or maintain requisite
license or product approvals could have a material adverse effect on our business operations, financial condition, and results of operations and our ability to maintain key employees. The Gaming Authorities may deny, limit, condition, suspend or revoke a gaming license or related approval for violations of applicable gaming laws and regulations and may impose substantial fines and take other actions, any one of which could have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, changes in existing gaming laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing gaming laws may hinder or prevent us from continuing to operate in those jurisdictions where we currently do business, which could harm our operating results. In particular, the enactment of unfavorable legislation or government efforts affecting or directed at manufacturers or gaming operators, such as referendums to increase gaming taxes or requirements to use local distributors, or uncertainty as to the means and manner in which existing gaming laws may be interpreted and applied, either singly or together, could have a negative impact on our operations.
In May 2018, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) as unconstitutional, which led many states to quickly propose and, in some instances, pass legislation authorizing sports betting. Consequently, gaming regulators, many of our operator customers, and many of our competitors dedicated resources to service this new market, as did we. However, in January 2019, the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice (“OLC”) published an opinion reversing its prior 2011 opinion interpreting the Federal Wire Act. The 2019 opinion now indicates that the Wire Act is applicable to any wire communication across state lines and specifically indicating that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”) does not modify the Wire Act, violations of which may be subject to criminal prosecution. The specific comment regarding UIGEA implicates UIGEA’s carve out for “unlawful Internet gambling” and “intermediate routing” (i.e., the ancillary crossing of state lines of transmissions between intra-state communications points). In reliance on the 2011 Wire Act opinion, several states legalized online gaming, and the proposed legislation in many jurisdictions in response to the May 2018 PASPA decision included online sports betting. The impact of the 2019 Wire Act opinion is currently unclear, and may implicate lottery, land-based, and online gaming as well as banks and payment processors that services these market segments. The Deputy Attorney General of the United States delayed implementation of the 2019 opinion through June 14, 2019, and several states’ attorney general have, or are contemplating, action in response to the 2019 opinion, including litigation. Interpretations and resultant enforcement of the Wire Act as may relate to intermediate routing transactions could negatively impact our WAP games business as well as our FinTech cash access business and our interactive real money gaming business.
Moreover, in addition to the risk of enforcement action, we are also at risk of loss of business reputation in the event of any potential legal or regulatory investigation, whether or not we are ultimately accused of or found to have committed any violation. For a summary of gaming regulations that could affect our business, see “Item 1. Business — Regulation.”
Many of the financial services that we provide are subject to extensive rules and regulations, which may harm our business.
Our Central Credit gaming patron credit bureau and check verification and warranty services are subject to the FCRA, the FACTA, and similar state laws. The collection practices that are used by our third-party providers and us may be subject to the FDCPA and applicable state laws relating to debt collection. All of our cash access services and patron marketing services are subject to the privacy provisions of state and federal law, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Our POS debit card cash access transactions and ATM withdrawal services are subject to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. Our ATM services are subject to the applicable state banking regulations in each jurisdiction in which we operate ATMs. Our ATM services may also be subject to state and local regulations relating to the imposition of daily limits on the amounts that may be withdrawn from ATMs, the location of ATMs, our ability to surcharge cardholders who use our ATMs, and the form and type of notices that must be disclosed regarding the provision of our ATM services. The cash access services we provide are subject to record keeping and reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. We are required to file SARs with respect to transactions completed at all gaming establishments where we provide our cash access services through a gaming establishment’s cashier or financial services center. If we are found to be noncompliant in any way with these laws, we could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties. In jurisdictions in which we serve as a check casher, we are subject to the applicable state licensing requirements and regulations governing check cashing activities. We are also subject to various state licensing requirements and regulations governing money transmitters.
We are subject to formal or informal audits, inquiries, or reviews from time to time by the regulatory authorities that enforce these financial services rules and regulations. In the event that any regulatory authority determines that the manner in which we provide cash access, patron marketing, or gaming patron credit bureau services is not in compliance with existing rules and regulations, or the regulatory authorities adopt new rules or regulations that prohibit or restrict the manner in which we provide cash access, patron marketing, or gaming patron credit bureau services, then these regulatory authorities may force us to modify the manner in which we operate or force us to stop processing certain types of cash access transactions or providing patron marketing or gaming patron credit bureau services altogether. We may also be required to pay substantial penalties and fines if we fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations. For example, if we fail to file CTRs or SARs on a timely basis or if we are found to be
noncompliant in any way with either the Bank Secrecy Act or the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, we could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties. In addition, our failure to comply with applicable rules and regulations could subject us to private litigation.
We are subject to extensive rules and regulations of card associations, including VISA, MasterCard, and EFT networks that are always subject to change, which may harm our business.
Our cash access business is subject to the extensive rules and regulations of the leading card associations, VISA and MasterCard. The rules and regulations do not expressly address some of the contexts and settings in which we process cash access transactions or do so in a manner subject to varying interpretations. As an example, we and certain of our providers must comply with the PCI Data Security Standard. The failure by any of such providers to comply with such standards could result in our being fined or being prohibited from processing transactions through VISA, MasterCard, and other card and payment networks. We also process transactions involving the use of the proprietary credit cards such as those offered by Discover Card and American Express, as well as other regional cards issued in certain international markets. The rules and regulations of the proprietary credit card networks that service these cards present risks to us that are similar to those posed by the rules and regulations of VISA, MasterCard, and other payment networks.
The card associations’ and payment networks’ rules and regulations are always subject to change, and the card associations or payment networks may modify their rules and regulations from time to time. Our inability to anticipate changes in rules and regulations, or the interpretation or application thereof, may result in substantial disruption to our business. In the event that the card associations, payment networks or our sponsoring banks determine that the manner in which we process certain types of card transactions is not in compliance with existing rules and regulations, or if the card associations or payment networks adopt new rules or regulations that prohibit or restrict the manner in which we process certain types of card transactions, we may be forced to pay a fine, modify the manner in which we operate our business, or stop processing certain types of cash access transactions altogether, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows.
Card associations and EFT networks may change interchange reimbursement rates or network operating fees or assess new fees associated with the processing and settlement of our cash access transactions or otherwise change their operating rules and regulations without our consent and such changes may affect our revenues, cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization), net income, and our business generally.
We receive income from issuers of ATM, credit, and debit cards for certain transactions performed on our ATMs related to cash dispensing or certain other non-financial transactions such as balance inquiries. The EFT networks may also charge certain fees related to the performance of these transactions. We refer to the net of this income and fees as reverse interchange. The amount of this reverse interchange income is determined by the card associations and EFT networks, and this income is subject to decrease at their discretion.
We pay interchange and other network fees for services to the credit card associations and EFT networks that they provide in settling transactions routed through their networks. Collectively we call these charges interchange fees. Subject to the limitations imposed by federal regulations such as the Durbin Amendment or other regulations that may be enacted, the amounts of these interchange fees are determined based upon the sole discretion of the card associations and EFT networks and are subject to increase at any time. Competitive pressures might prevent us from passing all or some of these fees through to our customers in the future. To the extent that we are unable to pass through to our customers all or any portion of any increase in interchange or other network processing fees, our cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) would increase and our net income would decrease, assuming no change in transaction volumes. Any such decrease in net income could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows. In addition, proposed changes to the Dodd-Frank Act, such as the repeal of the Durbin Amendment, if adopted, or other regulation that could be implemented to limit the amount of surcharge or service fees charged for our cash access transactions could have a negative impact on revenue and gross margins (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) as a result of reduced service fee revenue and potential increases in interchange rates merchants pay for debit card transactions.
The card associations and EFT networks may also elect to impose new membership or other fees, or implement new rules and regulations with respect to processing transactions through their networks, and any such new fees, rules, or regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows.
The provision of our credit card access, POS debit, and ATM services are dependent upon our continued sponsorship into the VISA and MasterCard card associations, and the suspension or termination of our sponsorship would result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows.
We process virtually all of our credit card cash access, POS debit, and ATM service transactions through the VISA and MasterCard card associations, both domestically and internationally, and virtually all of the revenue that we derive from our credit card cash
access, POS debit, and ATM services is dependent upon our continued sponsorship into the VISA and MasterCard associations. We cannot provide these services without sponsorship into the VISA and MasterCard associations by a member financial institution. Our failure to maintain our current sponsorship arrangements or secure alternative sponsorship arrangements into the VISA and MasterCard associations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows.
Our ATM service business is subject to extensive rules and regulations, which may harm our business.
Our ATM services are subject to the applicable federal, state, and local banking regulations in each jurisdiction in which we operate ATMs, which regulations relate to the imposition of daily limits on the amounts that may be withdrawn from ATMs, the location of ATMs, our ability to surcharge cardholders who use our ATMs, and the form and type of notices that must be disclosed with respect to the fees we charge to patrons in connection with our ATM services. ATMs are also subject to requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which in general require that ATMs be accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as visually-impaired persons. These laws and regulations may impose significant burdens on our ability to operate ATMs profitably in some locations, or at all, and our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows could be materially adversely affected. Moreover, because these regulations are subject to change, we may be forced to modify our ATM operations in a manner inconsistent with the assumptions upon which we relied when entering into contracts to provide ATM services at gaming establishments. If federal, state, local, or foreign authorities adopt new laws or regulations, or raise enforcement levels on existing laws and regulations that make it more difficult for us to operate our ATM business, then our revenues and earnings may be negatively affected. If legislation or regulations are enacted in the future that adversely impact our ATM business, we may be forced to modify our operations in a manner inconsistent with the assumptions upon which we relied when entering into contracts to provide ATMs at gaming establishments and our business, financial condition, operations, or cash flows could suffer a material adverse effect.
Consumer privacy laws may change, requiring us to change our business practices or expend significant amounts on compliance with such laws.
Our patron marketing and database services depend on our ability to collect and use non-public personal information relating to patrons who use our products and services and the transactions they consummate using our services. We are required by federal and state privacy laws and rules to safeguard and protect the privacy of such information, to make disclosures to patrons regarding our privacy and information sharing policies and, in some cases, to provide patrons an opportunity to “opt out” of the use of their information for certain purposes. The failure or circumvention of the means by which we safeguard and protect the privacy of information we gather may result in the dissemination of non-public personal information, which may harm our reputation and may expose us to liability to the affected individuals and regulatory enforcement proceedings or fines. Regulators reviewing our policies and practices may require us to modify our practices in a material or immaterial manner or impose fines or other penalties if they believe that our policies and practices do not meet the necessary standard. To the extent that our patron marketing and database services have failed, are now failing, or in the future fail to comply with applicable law, our privacy policies or the notices that we provide to patrons, we may become subject to actions by a regulatory authority or patrons which cause us to pay monetary penalties or require us to modify the manner in which we provide patron marketing and database services. To the extent that patrons exercise their right to “opt out,” our ability to leverage existing and future databases of information would be curtailed. Consumer and data privacy laws are evolving, and due to recent high profile thefts and losses of sensitive consumer information from protected databases, such laws may be broadened in their scope and application, impose additional requirements and restrictions on gathering, encrypting and using patron information or narrow the types of information that may be collected or used for marketing or other purposes or require patrons to “opt-in” to the use of their information for specific purposes, or impose additional fines or potentially costly compliance requirements which will hamper the value of our patron marketing and database services.
Risks Related to Our Stock
Our common stock has been publicly traded since September 2005, and we expect that the price of our common stock will fluctuate substantially.
There has been a public market for our common stock since September 2005. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including those described above under “—Risks Related to Our Business,” “—Risks Related to Regulation of Our Industry”, and the following:
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our failure to maintain our current customers, including because of consolidation in the gaming industry;
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increases in commissions paid to gaming establishments as a result of competition;
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increases in interchange rates, processing fees, or other fees paid by us;
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decreases in reverse interchange rates paid to us;
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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our or our competitors’ revenue, operating results, or growth rate;
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our inability to adequately protect or enforce our intellectual property rights;
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any adverse results in litigation initiated by us or by others against us;
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our inability to make payments on our outstanding indebtedness as they become due or our inability to undertake actions that might otherwise benefit us based on the financial and other restrictive covenants contained in the New Credit Facilities and the indenture governing the 2017 Unsecured Notes;
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the loss, or failure, of a significant supplier or strategic partner to provide the goods or services that we require from them;
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our inability to introduce successful, new products and services in a timely manner or the introduction of new products or services by our competitors that reduce the demand for our products and services;
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our failure to successfully enter new markets or the failure of new markets to develop in the time and manner that we anticipate;
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announcements by our competitors of significant new contracts or contract renewals or of new products or services;
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changes in general economic conditions, financial markets, the gaming industry, or the payments processing industry;
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the trading volume of our common stock;
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sales of common stock or other actions by our current officers, directors, and stockholders;
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acquisitions, strategic alliances, or joint ventures involving us or our competitors;
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future sales of our common stock or other securities;
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the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock or changes in financial estimates or recommendations by analysts;
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our failure to meet the revenue, net income, or earnings per share estimates of securities analysts or investors;
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departures of key personnel or our inability to attract or retain key personnel;
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our ability to prevent, mitigate, or timely recover from cybersecurity breaches, attacks, and compromises with respect to our infrastructure, systems, and information technology environment;
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terrorist acts, theft, vandalism, fires, floods, or other natural disasters; and
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rumors or speculation as to any of the above which we may be unable to confirm or deny due to disclosure restrictions imposed on us by law or which we otherwise deem imprudent to comment upon.
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Some provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may delay or prevent transactions that many stockholders may favor.
Some provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying, discouraging, or preventing a merger or acquisition that our stockholders may consider favorable or a change in our management or our Board of Directors. These provisions:
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divide our Board of Directors into three separate classes serving staggered three-year terms, which will have the effect of requiring at least two annual stockholder meetings instead of one, to replace a majority of our directors, which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in our control or management;
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provide that special meetings of stockholders can only be called by our Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board, or Chief Executive Officer. In addition, the business permitted to be conducted at any special meeting of stockholders is limited to the business specified in the notice of such meeting to the stockholders;
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provide for an advance notice procedure with regard to business to be brought before a meeting of stockholders which may delay or preclude stockholders from bringing matters before a meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at a meeting of stockholders, which could delay or deter takeover attempts or changes in management;
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eliminate the right of stockholders to act by written consent so that all stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called meeting;
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provide that directors may only be removed for cause with the approval of stockholders holding a majority of our outstanding voting stock;
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provide that vacancies on our Board of Directors may be filled by a majority, although less than a quorum, of directors in office and that our Board of Directors may fix the number of directors by resolution;
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allow our Board of Directors to issue shares of preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock and that otherwise could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights and the right to approve or not to approve an acquisition or other change in control, of the holders of common stock, without any further vote or action by the stockholders; and
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do not provide for cumulative voting for our directors, which may make it more difficult for stockholders owning less than a majority of our stock to elect any directors to our Board of Directors. In addition, we are also subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which provides, subject to enumerated exceptions, that if a person acquires 15% or more of our voting stock, the person is an “interested stockholder” and may not engage in “business combinations” with us for a period of three years from the time the person acquired 15% or more of our voting stock.
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These provisions may have the effect of entrenching our management team and may deprive our stockholders of the opportunity to sell shares to potential acquirers at a premium over prevailing prices. This potential inability to obtain a premium could reduce the price of our common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
We occupy real estate properties mostly in the United States and, to a lesser degree, internationally that are under lease agreements. We believe that these facilities are adequate for our business needs as presently conducted.
We primarily occupy the following leased real estate properties:
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Location
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Sq. Ft
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Purpose
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Segment
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Austin, Texas
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204,256
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Games Headquarters and Operations
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Games
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Las Vegas, Nevada
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106,873
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Corporate Headquarters; FinTech Headquarters and Operations
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FinTech; Games
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Reno, Nevada
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17,138
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Game Design Studio
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Games
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Chicago, Illinois
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17,124
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Game Design Studio
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Games
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In addition, we lease several other less significant real estate properties that are used to support our products and services.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are involved in various investigations, claims, and lawsuits in the ordinary course of our business. Although the outcome of our legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty and no assurances can be provided, based upon current information, we
do not believe the liabilities, if any, which may ultimately result from the outcome of such matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse impact on our financial position, liquidity, or results of operations.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.