Gaming technology organisation Scientific Games has reached an agreement in its antitrust litigation, which had seen the firm originally ordered to pay $335m to Shuffle Tech International and other plaintiffs in August.
Reaching a settlement that will see Scientific Games pay $151.5m, representing 45 per cent of the original penalty, it marks a much reduced settlement from the original $315m, plus attorney’s fees and costs.
It was initially argued that SG has initiated a frivolous patent litigation in hopes of controlling the market for automatic card-shufflers at casinos, something agreed upon by jury and judge after a 10-day Chicago based trial.
Initial settlements saw the jury award $45m to Shuffle Tech, $25m to Poydras, $20m to DigiDeal and $15m to Aces Up, which assigned its rights in the lawsuit to Shuffle Tech, figures the judge tripled under antitrust law.
Regarding the settlement, Scientific Games stated through a media release: “The settlement is conditioned on the trial court entering an order vacating the judgement entered on the jury’s verdict.
“The company anticipates that the trial court will enter such an order. Upon satisfaction of the condition described above, the settlement ends all litigation related to this matter and all pending motions and filings will be dropped.
“While the settlement resolves the disputed claims, Scientific Games has not admitted any liability.”
With James Sottile, chief legal officer and executive vice president of Scientific Games, adding: “While we firmly believe that the jury decision was wrong, we are pleased with the outcome of the settlement and that this matter will be resolved for good.”
This week Scientific Games saw former CEO Gavin Isaacs end his four-and-a-half year stint with the organisation, as he resigned as vice-chair of the board.
Isaacs joined the company following the $5bn merger with Bally Technologies, where he served as served as chief operating officer prior to the deal. Rumours abound that Isaacs will now join Playtech, to spearhead the gaming giant’s US push.
