On July 2, 2007, Lottomatica S.p.A. announced that it’s subsidiary GTECH Sports Betting Solutions Limited had completed the acquisition of Finsoft Limited.
Finsoft was founded in 1995 but we find their first appearance on the WWW as a risk management, real-time transaction, and information management company with a copyright date of 1998 (Our archive searches only go back as far as 1996 and information access that old is sporadic).

One of the conditions to complete the GTech acquisition was the spin-off of Finsoft’s non sports-betting businesses to Finsoft Financial Systems Ltd. We first see the G2 Finsoft Sports Betting logo appear on their site in February 2010, but it may have appeared sometime after June 2009, with GTech’s creation of G2.

Finsoft not only brought their MarginMaker™ platform with them but a complete sports betting solution including “fixed odds, pari-mutuel, betting exchange, and soft gaming via the internet, telephone, retail, interactive TV, and mobile channels…”

This post is being made for archival and historical purposes, and as such we will provide the Lottomatica/GTech original press release in it’s entirety. The press release can be found here: http://www.gtech.com/news/2007news/0702.asp

GTECH COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF SPORTS-BETTING SOLUTIONS PROVIDER FINSOFT LIMITED
ROME, ITALY and PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, USA – (July 2, 2007) – Lottomatica S.p.A. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, GTECH Sports Betting Solutions Limited, has completed the acquisition of London-based Finsoft Limited, a leading provider of real-time transaction and information management systems for the commercial sports-betting market. GTECH entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding share capital of Finsoft and substantially all of the assets of BEG Finsoft d.o.o. Belgrade, an affiliated Finsoft company and the Serbian-based development center for Finsoft’s sports-betting software operations. All conditions to the closing of the acquisition have been satisfied including the spin-off of Finsoft’s non sports-betting businesses to Finsoft Financial Systems Ltd., and the approval of the Serbian Competition Commission for the sale of Finsoft’s Belgrade assets to GTECH.

“The addition of Finsoft allows us to deliver a complete, integrated sports-betting solution to our customers and prospects, including fixed odds, pari-mutuel, betting exchange, and soft gaming via the internet, telephone, retail, interactive TV, and mobile channels, as well as self-service terminals,” said W. Bruce Turner, CEO of Lottomatica S.p.A. and GTECH.

“Our goal is to become the world’s leading provider of sports-betting technology and content to government-sponsored lottery markets and regulated commercial sports-betting markets, offering a full suite of support and management services,” continued Mr. Turner.

Finsoft currently employs approximately 145 people in its bookmaking teams in London and Belgrade . GTECH intends to maintain Finsoft’s operations in London and Belgrade as an autonomous unit with its separate brand identity.

Finsoft’s unique MarginMaker™ platform runs some of the most successful and fastest-growing companies in the betting industry, such as Singapore Pools, Chisholm Bookmakers, and Boyle Sports.

Lottomatica is one of the world’s largest commercial lottery operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry. GTECH is a leading gaming technology and services company, providing innovative technology, creative content, and superior service delivery. GTECH and Lottomatica together create a fully integrated lottery operator and gaming technology solutions provider – a combined company with worldwide scale, considerable financial strength, and industry-leading customer solutions. Lottomatica is majority owned by De Agostini, which belongs to a century-old publishing, media, and financial services group. Lottomatica is publicly traded on the Italian Stock Exchange (LTO), and in 2006, had approximately €1.7 billion in revenues and 6,000 employees in over 50 countries when combined with GTECH.

For further information:

AD HOC Communication Advisors 02/7606741

Mario Pellegatta – Matteo Cidda 335/1415585

This press release and the previous ones are available on the web site: www.adhoccommunication.it

Lottomatica web site: www.gruppolottomatica.it

GTECH contact: Robert K. Vincent Public Affairs 1-401-392-7452

GTECH web site: www.gtech.com