The Nevada Gaming Commission signed off on an application for an amendment to an order of registration for Novomatic AG. The Commission approved the application that sought a reorganization for tax purposes involving Austria and Switzerland. It was on the consent agenda without any discussion.
Earlier this month, there were discussions among members of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Novum Swiss AG is a 10.04% owner of Novomatic AG while Novo Invest GmbH is an 89.6% owner of the gaming technology company. For strategic reasons, the majority of the Novum Swiss group’s operational subsidiaries were transferred to Novomatic AG as part of a reorganization to create synergy in the gaming technology area and increase the European footprint of Novomatic AG, a company executive said. It will increase Novum Swiss AG’s ownership in Novomatic AG from 10% to 25%.
At the Gaming Control Board meeting, Novomatic legal counsel Michael Rohregger, who represented the company in the criminal investigation in Austria, gave an update from Vienna on the proceedings that started in 2019.
All of the matters against Novomatic AG, except one, were closed after prosecutors found no grounds to prosecute anyone. Eighteen months ago, the prosecutor recommended the one remaining mater be closed. But then the second-level prosecutor found that the issue should go to court, Rohregger said.
In February, the prosecutor filed a request of prosecution with the court. Now, a judge will investigate the remaining issue.
“We will have the possibility to file a reply to the prosecutor’s request for prosecution, which the judge will clarify in an oral hearing,” Rohregger said. “It’s difficult to predict how long it will take. Maybe it starts before summer or maybe it starts in the fall. It could take a couple of days or 10 days to clarify this.”
Rohregger said the remaining case involves former former Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann in his function as a member of the supervisory board of the Casinos Austria AG, a company in which Novomatic AG held a minority share. The allegations are that Neumann tried to influence a politician by accepting his request to appoint a specific CFO in that subsidiary.
Austrian billionaire Johann Graf, who founded Novomatic, was included in the case because he’s accused of knowing and accepting what Neumann did.
If this case goes through the worst-case outcome, Gaming Control Board Chair Mike Dreizer asked, would it be a misdemeanor?
Rohregger said the court has a lot of options, with a misdemeanor as the lower type of offense.
In stating he’s not concerned, Gaming Control Board member George Assad called the allegation involving bribery one that’s “on the lower rung on the criminal penalties there.”
The Board also got an update of Novomatic’s bid to take over Australian subsidiary Ainsworth Game Technology, saying the takeover offer expired Feb. 8 and is blocked until June. They hold 67.4% shares of AGT and are targeting getting more shares. It takes 75% of shares to go private.
