UK-based gaming and software supplier Storm Gaming has been acquired by Primero Games. A controlling interest in the company has gone to industry icon Mike Macke, owner of Primero, who becomes a majority shareholder with Richard Sheldon and Darren Breese.
A new company structure has been implemented at Storm, with investment, that will "create a mutually beneficial relationship for both companies with a sizable content library, in addition to global expansion opportunities.
Macke, Breese and Sheldon are joined on the new board by Sabrina Anthi Howells, continuing as Storm's commercial director, the Primero CFO, Victor Kannan, and its business development
director, Barry Rutherford. In addition to the increase in the Primero content portfolio, the new organisation will have access to Storm's remote game server and its content. Macke said that he
was keen to work with Storm CEO Sheldon and former Blueprint Gaming founder Breese. Macke and Breese go back over 20 years. Said Macke: "The Storm acquisition blends a strategic synergy between the companies and opens a new door for Primero games.
The financial investment backs new manufacturing opportunities in the US for Storm. Macke and Sheldon are seeking online growth with the aim to achieve substantial integrations on to the RGS across many platforms and also on land-based strategy to enter new markets, notably the US and Latin America. The UK gaming market is also in the new company's sights, offering a stable, regulated environment to expand land-based strategy. They feel both companies will be able to grow in the future with new product launches in the UK gaming markets, new content for igaming and new markets for both Storm and Primero. Said Sheldon: "The company has worked hard to build a brand in gaming and our ambitions are to be a significant global name in gaming markets worldwide. The link with Primero immediately gives us access to a huge pool of product and talent in the US markets and will allow us to bring some of the best-known content in the US land-based sector intothe gaming business - as well as a transfer of knowledge and product between the two companies."
Darren Breese is the former CEO at Blueprint Gaming and before that was machines manager for Holiday Inns and has been based in Atlanta, US, for nearly 30 years. Sheldon is the founder and CEO of Storm and has considerable knowledge and expertise in gaming throughout Europe in both the land-based and gaming spaces.
Macke has more than 40 years' experience, ranging from production and cabinet design to game development and advocacy. He is known for his work with Digital Controls, conceptualising the Nudge feature for the Georgia (US) market and launching Cadillac Jack. He bought Primero in late 2020.
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