Equity Method Investments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Equity Method Investments

Equity Method Investments

(3) Equity Method Investments

Lotterie Nazionali S.r.l. / Consorzio Lotterie Nazionali

We are a 20% equity owner in Lotterie Nazionali S.r.l. (“LNS”), a joint venture comprised principally of us, Lottomatica Group S.p.A. (“Lottomatica”) and Arianna 2001, a company owned by the Federation of Italian Tobacconists, that was awarded the concession from the Italian Monopoli di Stato to be the exclusive operator of the Italian Gratta e Vinci instant ticket lottery beginning on October 1, 2010. The concession has an initial term of nine years (subject to a performance evaluation during the fifth year) and could be extended by the Monopoli di Stato for an additional nine years. LNS succeeded Consorzio Lotterie Nazionali (“CLN”), a consortium comprised of essentially the same group that owns LNS, as holder of the concession. Under the new concession, we are the primary supplier of instant lottery tickets for the joint venture, as we were under the prior concession. CLN, which had held the concession since 2004, is being wound up and the bulk of its assets have been transferred to LNS. LNS paid €800,000 in upfront fees under the terms of the new concession. We paid our pro rata share of these fees in 2010 (€160,000). The upfront fees associated with the new concession are amortized by LNS (anticipated to be approximately €89,000 each year of the new concession on a pre-tax basis), which reduces our earnings from our equity investment in LNS. Our share of the amortization is expected to be approximately €18,000 each year on a pre-tax basis. In light of the corporate structure of LNS, we record our earnings from our equity investment in LNS on an after-tax basis in accordance with applicable accounting rules, which impacts the comparability of our results of operations associated with LNS with our results of operations associated with CLN, since we recorded earnings from our equity investment in CLN on a pre-tax basis. Subject to applicable limitations, we are entitled to receive from LNS annual cash dividends as well as periodic return of capital payments over the life of the concession. In April 2011, we received a dividend of $22,012 from CLN. During 2011, we have received $10,870 from LNS comprised of a dividend of $4,238 received in the second quarter and return of capital payments of $6,266 and $366 received in the second and third quarter, respectively.

Northstar Lottery Group, LLC

We are a 20% equity owner in Northstar Lottery Group, LLC (“Northstar”), a joint venture with GTECH Corporation, a subsidiary of Lottomatica, that was formed to bid for the agreement to be the private manager for the Illinois lottery for a ten-year term. Northstar was selected as the private manager following a competitive procurement process and entered into a private management agreement with the State of Illinois on January 18, 2011 (the “PMA”). As the private manager, Northstar will, subject to the oversight of the Illinois lottery, manage the day-to-day operations of the lottery including lottery game development and portfolio management, retailer recruitment and training, supply of goods and services and overall marketing strategy. Under the terms of the PMA, Northstar is entitled to receive annual incentive compensation payments to the extent it is successful in increasing the lottery’s net income above specified target levels, subject to a cap of 5% of the applicable year’s net income. Northstar will be responsible for payments to the State to the extent such targets are not achieved, subject to a similar cap. Northstar is expected to be reimbursed on a monthly basis for most of its operating expenses under the PMA. Under our agreement with Northstar, we are responsible for the design, development, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution of instant lottery tickets and will be compensated based on a percentage of retail sales.

On January 26, 2011, the Appellate Court of Illinois upheld a constitutional challenge to the revenue statute that, among other things, amended the lottery law to facilitate the PMA on grounds that the statute impermissibly addressed more than one subject. On July 11, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court decision and upheld the revenue statute.  Operations under the PMA commenced on July 1, 2011. We contributed $10,000 to Northstar in March 2011 and an additional $2,000 in July 2011.  We account for our interest in Northstar under the equity method of accounting.

International Terminal Leasing

As contemplated by our strategic agreements with Video B Holdings Limited (“Video B”), a subsidiary of Playtech Limited, relating to our license of Video B’s back-end technology platform for our gaming machines, we formed ITL with Video B in the first quarter of 2011. The purpose of ITL is to acquire gaming terminals using funds contributed to the capital of ITL by each partner. The gaming terminals, which will employ Video B’s software, will be leased to whichever Company subsidiary is to provide the terminals to third-party customers. We account for our interest in ITL under the equity method of accounting. The equity interest of each partner is expected to vary based on the respective capital contributions from the partners; however, each partner has joint control regarding operating decisions of ITL. Intra-entity profits and losses will be eliminated as necessary. As of September 30, 2011 our investment in ITL was $35,961. The impact of ITL on our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 was not material.

Sportech Plc

Upon the closing of the sale of our racing and venue management businesses (the “Racing Business”) to Sportech Plc (“Sportech”) on October 5, 2010, we received an equity interest in Sportech of approximately 20% of the shares then outstanding. Sportech operates football pools and associated games through various distribution channels including direct mail and telephone, agent-based collection and via the Internet. Sportech also operates a portfolio of online casino, poker, bingo and fixed-odds games through its e-Gaming division. Our interest in Sportech is accounted for under the equity method of accounting. We record our equity interest in Sportech on a 90-day lag as allowed under Accounting Standards Codification 323, Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures.

Shandong Inspur Scientific Games Technology, Ltd.

On April 16, 2007, we invested approximately $750 to establish Shandong Inspur Scientific Games Technology, Ltd. (“SIST”). On February 1, 2011, we sold our interest in SIST resulting in a gain of $397.