Bally Technologies history

Advanced Patent made its move into the gaming industry in 1979, acquiring United Coin Machine Company, one of the largest slot route operators in Nevada, and announcing plans for the Colorado Belle hotel and casino in Laughlin, the first of a series of hotels to be built in the Las Vegas area.

An obstacle arose in July 1980 in the form of an SEC investigation, alleging inadequate financial disclosure and sale of unregistered stock.

Three new directors were added in November to the company's board as part of a settlement under discussion with the SEC, but by March 1981, regulators still had questions about the company's public disclosure, and trading in the stock was suspended for 10 days.

The company changed its name to Gaming and Technology Inc. in March 1983 to better reflect its focus.

On January 1, 1985, the company merged with Omega Enterprises, a manufacturer of video slot machines through its Cal Omega subsidiary, in a "reverse acquisition". Gaming & Technology acquired Omega's assets, and Omega's shareholders received 72.5% of the company's stock.

By 1986, machine sales were in a slump, and slot route operations accounted for 80 percent of the firm's revenue, so the Cal Omega plant in Carlsbad, California was closed.

The company changed its name again in 1988, to United Gaming Inc., acknowledging United Coin as its principal asset.

In 1989, United outlined a plan to become a major casino operator.

Wilms pumped more money into the company, investing $10 million in June 1990 to raise his ownership stake to 54 percent.

By the winter, it was missing payments to its creditors, but a debt restructuring was achieved in September 1991.

United closed Miss Lucy's Casino in February 1992.

In 1993, United Gaming and Wilms reached an agreement with Kirkland-Fort Worth Investment Partners, a group affiliated with Texas investor Richard Rainwater, for a $5 million investment in exchange for 11 percent of the company.

In March 1994, United bought 90 percent of USA Gaming of Native America, which had gaming development agreements with four Indian tribes.

In June 1995, with Bally already considering a buyout offer from WMS Industries, Alliance made an unsolicited offer of $210 million in cash, stock, and assumed debt.

After the two companies agreed to revise the deal down to $185 million to ensure the combined company would have enough cash to grow, and Alliance raised $166 million in financing, the acquisition was completed on June 18, 1996.

Bally Gaming and Systems were combined into a single unit in 1998.

The company began seeking buyers for its slot route and casino operations in late 1999, to narrow its focus on gaming technology.

Bally took the publicly traded company from the brink of NASDAQ delisting in 2000 to record revenues and profits just two years later.

On December 12, 2002, Alliance Gaming moved from NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol “AGI”.

In 2006, Alliance changed its name to Bally Technologies, Inc., discontinuing the use of Bally Gaming and Systems as a subsidiary, to present a unified identity.

In 2007, Bally celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Bally trademark with a series of special customer events in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Chicago.

In 2008, Bally opened a new European sales/service hub in Amsterdam.

In late 2009, Bally displayed their new Pro Series V22/22 upright and Pro Series Slant Top slot featuring a 22" game display and a 26" top display.

In 2010, Bally sold the Rainbow Casino to Isle of Capri Casinos for $80 million.