BUFFALO, N.Y. and RENO, Nev., March 10, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delaware North, a global leader in hospitality and food service and an innovative operator of regional destination casinos, today announced its acquisition of Ruby Seven Studios – a top social casino developer.
With Ruby Seven Studios, Delaware North is close to launching its own mobile and online social gaming platform to increase customer engagement and complement its land-based casino portfolio. Plans are to market the platform to Delaware North's customer database of millions of patrons who each year flow through the company's owned properties, including TD Garden, gaming venues, restaurants and hotels.
The acquisition also positons Delaware North to offer social casino solutions to other gaming and media companies, including Ruby Seven's current clients, Tropicana Entertainment Inc., Coral Interactive in the U.K. and the Pechanga Resort & Casino in California.
"The combination of Delaware North's brand reach along with Ruby Seven's successful social gaming experience will enable Delaware North to successfully enter the social casino market and bring a new level of innovation and technology to the company," said E. Brian Hansberry, president of Delaware North's gaming business.
"This acquisition primes Delaware North to continue its innovations on a global scale while allowing us to explore new territory by working with the Ruby Seven Studios team. We look forward to driving this new part of Delaware North's overall business," Hansberry said.
The acquisition comes six months after Delaware North had formed a strategic partnership with Ruby Seven Studios. With more than 100 employees in both Reno, Nevada, and Kochi, India, the company offers Delaware North a chance to expand into the $3.4 billion social casino industry, which is predicted to grow to $4.4 billion by 2017, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Research.
"Delaware North is uniquely positioned to help us service our ever-expanding land-based casino partners as well as expand into new avenues of distribution across the company's 500 million annual customer touchpoints," said Michael Carpenter, CEO of Ruby Seven Studios, which he co-founded in 2012 with Jugul Thachery.
"Our companies are both focused on one thing – providing a great customer experience. That made this partnership and acquisition an easy choice for Ruby Seven Studios," Carpenter said.
In the acquisition, Delaware North acquires 100 percent of Ruby Seven Studios' equity, which was previously backed by Rush Street Gaming and others.
About Delaware North Gaming
Delaware North Gaming is one of the most innovative gaming operators in the country, operating regional casino destinations with slot and video gaming machines, table games, poker rooms, racetracks, racing simulcast centers, restaurants, lounges, nightclubs, sports bars, event centers, retail shops and hotels. Delaware North Gaming owns and operates entertainment destinations in New York, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, West Virginia, Arkansas and Ohio. Delaware North Gaming is a subsidiary of Delaware North, a global leader in hospitality and food service. For more information, visit http://www.delawarenorth.com/industries/gaming.
About Delaware North
Delaware North is one of the largest privately-held hospitality and food service companies in the world. Founded in 1915 and owned by the Jacobs family for 100 years, Delaware North has global operations at high-profile places such as sports and entertainment venues, national and state parks, destination resorts and restaurants, airports, and regional casinos. Our 60,000 employee associates are dedicated to creating special experiences one guest at a time in serving more than 500 million guests annually. Delaware North has annual revenue of about $3 billion in the sports, travel hospitality, restaurants and catering, parks, resorts, gaming, and specialty retail industries. Learn more about Delaware North at www.delawarenorth.com.
About Ruby Seven Studios
Ruby Seven Studios is a top ranking social casino gaming company based out of Reno, Nevada, and Kochi, India. Its mission is to bring casino game content to land-based, online casinos and media partners through strategic partnerships, which now include Pechanga Resort and Casino, Tropicana Entertainment and Gala Coral group. With more than 100 employees worldwide, Ruby Seven Studios has created over 20 titles for the Apple, GooglePlay, Amazon Kindle, Facebook, Yahoo, and web platforms. Some of its top ranking titles include TropWorld Casino, Magician Casino, Big Spin Bingo, Ruby Seven Video Poker, and TimeQuest Slots. To learn more about Ruby Seven Studios and its continued success, please visit www.rubyseven.com.