Grand Parade Investments could double the number of limited payout machines it operates in South Africa following the acquisition of two new LPM route operator licences.
The licences – one in Gauteng and one in Mpumalanga – were acquired by GPI’s subsidiary, GPI Slots. The Gauteng acquisition was secured through an agreement with Bohwa 1 Gaming, trading as Hot Slots, while the Mpumalanga Gambling Board has approved the transfer of a licence currently held by Zimele Slots to GPI’s subsidiary Grand Gaming Mpumalanga.
The company now has licences for four of the country’s provinces.
Chairman Hassen Adams said that when GPI first entered the LPM market in June 2010 it owned licences for 2,000 gaming machines.
“With the acquisition of these two new licences, GPI has moved significantly closer to achieving our stated objective of acquiring LPM route operator licences for 7,500 machines in the medium term,” he explained. “Following these two transactions we are now able to roll out as many as 6,000 LPMs, or double our current allocation.”
The Gauteng acquisition will give GPI 1,000 additional LPMs, of which 348 are currently active. This will bring the total number it is licensed to operate in the province to 2,000. The Mpumalanga licence, meanwhile, is one of two in the province that grants the operator permission to operate up to 2,000 LPMs.
This, said Adams, will “elevate GPI into the position of LPM market leader” in these two provinces, while also supporting its slot machine manufacturing joint venture with German manufacturer and operator Merkur Gaming, which was signed last year.
“We will soon be able to not only provide ourselves with better priced LPMs, and as a result have far better control over our largest expense, but we will also be securing additional jobs and support in the local manufacturing sector.”
Grand Merkur is expected to produce its first locally assembled LPM before the end of this year.
