From Business Day Live

Empowerment gaming and leisure group Grand Parade Investments said on Wednesday its joint venture with Merkur Gaming had assembled South Africa’s first locally made gambling machine.

The joint venture, with German-based gaming manufacturer and operator Merkur Gaming, was signed late last year.

It intends producing machines from early next year to service the needs of casinos and the broader limited payout machine (LPM) market, including sports betting terminals and lottery terminals.

According to a report released last month by PwC, total gross gambling revenues in South Africa are expected to grow from R20.9bn last year to R29.8bn in 2017, a 7.4% compound annual increase.

The LPM market is expected to be among the biggest contributors to this growth.

“We expect LPM gross revenues to average 20% compounded annually to R3.7bn in 2017 from R1.5bn in 2012,” PwC’s latest gambling outlook report says.

In its year ended June, Grand Parade’s LPM operations produced 17.1% growth in gross gaming revenue. According to the company, there are currently no gambling machine manufacturing facilities in South Africa, bar its facility.

Assembly of the joint venture’s first LPM was completed on Wednesday at the Cape Town factory of its contracted electronics manufacturer, Tellumat.

Written by Nick Hedley | Read more at Business Day Live