Bye-Bye GTECH: Lottery Giant Rebrands as IGT

It's official: GTECH has entered the online gaming record books with an unheard of $6.4 billion merger.

Merger Approval Announcement

Originally consummated over 6 months ago on July 16, 2014, the deal became real with the announcement that the Italy lottery giant's acquisition of US slot machine manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT) has been approved by the Nevada gaming regulatory authority.

The merger was approved after several hours of deliberation by local regulators on the Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission, finalizing the approval process and paving the way for the issue of a court order to specify the date when the transition takes effect. Said court order is expected in the coming weeks.

GTECH Becomes IGT in April

GTECH clarifies that the red tape will end and the deal will come into full implementation in the middle of April of this year. This full-scale implementation includes a re-branding, in which the merger will see the GTECH name disappear within twelve months as the newly formed company takes IGT's name moving forward.

GTECH owner Georgia Worldwide PLC will also adapt the new name as International Game Technology PLC. This new juggernaut will move to the forefront of innovation in providing gaming solutions worldwide.

The company will be publicly traded under the stock symbol IGT, and will begin expanding immediately. Central merger headquarters will be opened in the UK, with further IGT operating headquarters maintained in Las Vegas, Rome and Providence, R.I.

Besides the facelift, however, the internal structure will remain intact. GTECH's current CEO Marco Sala will remain at the helm of the transition and head the merged company. GTECH has already revealed the corporate structure of upper management and executives that comprise the infrastructure of the merged entity.

Powerful Adaptive Process

GTECH also overtly asserted that a careful examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the two separate companies would be undertaken to combine the strengths of each organization to adapt to the needs of the new global market.

The name may be leaving, but GTECH's future looks brighter than ever.