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Boyd Interactive Gaming Inc., completed its $170 million acquisition of Pala Interactive LLC on Tuesday, a significant step toward expanding parent Boyd Gaming‘s online casino footprint around the United States.
With this all-cash purchase, Boyd acquires the 9-year-old startup’s proprietary technology including a player account management system that provides a cashiering platform and a “unified back office.”
Boyd Gaming invests further in online casino products
Pala Interactive hosts and manages online casino apps in several markets around the U.S. and Canada as a B2B (business-to-business) solution for other license holders. In addition, they own and operate the Stardust Casino apps in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in partnership with FanDuel.
Boyd will take over those operations in the coming months, according to a Boyd spokesman. The company believes the Pala staff and technology provide an opportunity for Boyd to eventually launch online gambling apps in the other eight states where the company already owns brick-and-mortar casinos.
Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming, spoke on the completion of the transaction.
“Online casino gaming is an attractive growth opportunity for our Company, and the acquisition of Pala Interactive provides us with the technology, products and expertise to create a profitable regional online casino business,” Smith stated. “We look forward to working with the Pala Interactive team in executing our online casino gaming strategy, which will complement our existing land-based operations and further expand our nationwide customer base.”
Pala Interactive was launched in 2013 by the Pala Band of Mission Indians. With the sale now complete, Boyd has an interest in gambling expansion in several markets.
Boyd awaiting legislative action in several states
While Boyd does operate the Valley Forge Casino in Pennsylvania and multiple properties in Nevada, many of its properties are in states where online casino play for real money is currently illegal. Examples include Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, and Ohio.
Those states are in very different places when it comes to their possible proximity to legalizing online casino play. Indiana is among the next most likely states to do so in 2023, for example. At the same time, all forms of online gambling remain illegal in Missouri right now.
Should the situations change in those states and others where Boyd currently operates, Boyd will have an online casino product ready to launch. That state of preparedness is mostly due to the acquisition of Pala Interactive.
