Primero Buys Win Systems' Gaming Division and 3,000 Positions in Latin America

The Georgia manufacturer has bought the gaming operations arm of Win Systems, including its Gold Club electronic-roulette business, taking on an installed base across Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Panama. Terms were not disclosed, and the deal turns a US regional supplier into a Latin American one overnight.

• Primero Games has acquired the Gaming Division of Win Systems, referred to as WSG, including the Gold Club electronic-roulette business
• The acquired operations carry an installed base of more than 3,000 gaming positions across Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Panama
• Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by either company
• Primero says it will support existing customers and products while introducing its own game content, platform technology and development resources
• Win Systems chief executive Eric Benchimol and executive chairman Dario Zutel are both named as joining Primero with the WSG team

A Regional US Manufacturer Buys Its Way Into Five Latin American Markets

Primero Games, the Norcross, Georgia manufacturer of gaming content, technology and products, has acquired the Gaming Division of Win Systems, according to an announcement issued by the company on 3 September. The deal includes Gold Club, the division's electronic-roulette business, and adds slot and electronic-roulette products, manufacturing capability and live gaming operations across Latin America and the Caribbean. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquired operations have an installed base of more than 3,000 gaming positions in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Panama. Primero said it will continue to support existing customers and products while introducing additional Primero game content, platform technology and development resources, and that the WSG teams and infrastructure will keep serving those markets.

"This is an important step forward in executing Primero's growth strategy to build a diversified, global gaming company," said Mike Macke, chairman of Primero Games, who founded the business. He said the combination would let the company "deliver more products, more content and greater value to customers across a wider range of gaming markets", and named Eric Benchimol and Dario Zutel among those joining.

Benchimol, chief executive of Win Systems, said pairing the division's installed base, manufacturing operations and market knowledge with Primero's game library and development engine meant both companies could "bring more, and better, products to our customers faster than either company could alone". Zutel, executive chairman of Win Systems, described the transaction as "an exciting new chapter" for the division and said Primero was "the right partner to build on what we have achieved".

Primero's existing business sits mostly in US markets, with game content, online gaming solutions, redemption kiosks and an omnichannel platform. The company has invested in its Hurricane platform, which supports offline, online, single and multi-game applications, and its Spark server-based gaming product adds business intelligence, linked and wide-area progressive jackpots, content subscriptions and player marketing. Primero markets more than 100 original titles and runs studios in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The Buyer Is Smaller Than the Footprint It Just Acquired

Primero is best known in the Georgia coin-operated amusement machine market, where it launched a Class A game after 2024 legislation raised prize limits from $5 to $50 per play. Buying a division with 3,000 positions across five Latin American jurisdictions is a step change in regulatory surface area rather than a bolt-on. Each of those markets licenses suppliers separately, and Mexico, Peru and Colombia have all moved on tax or licensing in the past year. The integration risk here is not technical, it is compliance headcount, and the fact that both Win Systems' chief executive and executive chairman are named as coming across suggests Primero knows it is buying people and licences as much as cabinets.

Latin America Is Consolidating Around Whoever Can Fund the Floor

The land-based supply market in the region has been quietly changing hands for two years, and the buyers have generally been the parties able to finance installed bases rather than the parties with the best content. Primero's pitch is the reverse: a content and platform business acquiring distribution. That is the more defensible position if it works, because content travels between jurisdictions and cabinets do not. It also arrives at an awkward moment for the region's largest market, where Mexico's rewrite of its 1947 gambling law is with the security cabinet and a punitive tax proposal has been on the table for a year.

Undisclosed Terms on a Divestment Usually Means the Seller Was Not Selling Strength

Win Systems is keeping its wider business and shedding the gaming division, and neither side put a number on it. Divisional carve-outs at undisclosed prices are rarely trophy sales, and the more likely reading is a business with a solid installed base and limited appetite to keep funding refresh cycles across five jurisdictions. That is not a criticism of the asset. An installed base with real customer relationships is exactly what a content house needs, and it is cheaper to buy than to build.

Primero has bought distribution it could not have won market by market. Whether it has bought a compliance function to match is the question the next twelve months will answer.