Gaming operator Delaware North has acquired Ruby Seven Studios, a top social casino developer, with an eye toward launching its own mobile and social gaming platform “to increase customer engagement and complement its land-based casino portfolio,” the company said in a press release.
Plans are to market the platform to Delaware North’s customer database of millions of patrons who each year flow through the company’s properties, including TD Garden, gaming venues, restaurants and hotels.
The acquisition also positions 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.”
The acquisition comes six months after Delaware North had formed a strategic partnership with Ruby Seven Studios. With more than 100 employees in 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 touch points,” 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.”
In the acquisition, Delaware North acquires 100 percent of Ruby Seven Studios’ equity, which was previously backed by Rush Street Gaming and others.
