BY
MIKE
SHAW
WILLIAMS, BALLY NEGOTIATIONS END • REINHORN STARTS COIN-A-TICKET •
MURDOCH BUY COULD LEAD TO ATARI SPIN-OFF • CHIP SHORTAGES CONFOUND
GAME MAKERS • 'PIT BOSS' MADE CONVERSION PROOF • FRENCH POKERS SEIZED •
TSK WANTS GUARANTEES • O'DONNELL STOCK REDEEMED • 'DONKEY KONG' SUIT
COULD BE COSTLY • SHUFFLEBOARD EXECUTIVE DIES
WILLIAMS, BALLY NEGOTIATIONS END
The expected sale of Williams'
coin-op business to Bally has been
called off. On January 19, the com-
panies jointly announced talks
between them had "terminat ed."
Though both refuse to detail any
specifics of the proposed deal or
discuss why negotiations failed , a
Williams corporate official said the
company would not seek other
avenues to divest its coin-op inter-
ests.
" There's a great weight off our
shoulders and we're steeped in new
planning," one Williams employee
said. "It's nice to think of Bally once
again as a competitor."
The news that the companies
terminated discussions came less
than two months after the announce-
ment that they were talking. How-
ever, observers contend the com-
pany presidents, Michael Stroll of
Williams and Robert Mullane of
Bally, had been in conversation for
as long as four months prior to the
official announcement.
"This indicates one of two
things," offered Christopher Kirby,
investment anal yst and author of the
1983 "Sanford C. Bernstein Report"
on video game stocks. " Either
business is improving, or terms of
valuation were unacceptable to
Bally . I would guess it was the
terms."
A Bear Stearns & Company analyst
estimated the Williams coin-op
price at about $20 million for game
assets and inventory. Those assets
include a recent lucrative deal with
10
Atari, wherein Atari acquired rights
to market Williams' coin-op hits in
home game versions.
Amid this myriad of speculation,
the most popular theory is that Bally
was interested in Williams' engi-
neering innovativeness. But recently ,
Bally indicated it will develop more
in-house engineering capabilities,
especially in light of Astron Belt's
disappointing results . (Astron Belt
was at the heart of Bally's purchase
of Sega.)
Bally has signed a deal with RCA
for inexpensive laser disc units and
is negotiating low cost agreement
for animation . The speculation is
that Bally wants to offer laser disc
games to operators at a palatable
cost , something less than $3 ,000.
Meanwhile, factors that led Wil-
liams to the bargaining table have
not changed. A year-end report
released January 12 reveals Wil-
liams' revenues for the fourth quar-
ter of fiscal1983 (ending September
30) were $5.1 million compared to
$19.7 million in 1982. Revenues for
all of 1983 decreased to$92 .5 million
from $136.3 in 1982, despite increases
from a successful initial venture into
gambling casinos. The firm released
25 percent of its white collar staff in
November and announced it would
stop paying dividends on its com-
mon stock January 5.
•
REIN HORN STARTS COIN-A-TICKET
Richard A. Reinhorn , a founder
and president of R.N.D. Associates
Inc. , has resigned his position to
start a new company, Coin-A-Ticket
International Inc.
The Redeemer is Coin-A-Ticket's
first product, a micro-processor
desi_gned to convert any game to
one that rewards playing skill.
"The more tickets a player wins,
the bigger the prize," Reinhorn
proposed. "At carnivals, fairs, and
resorts , or with target bowling
games, prizes were traditionally
stuffed animals. Now , besides
changing any game to a ticket
dispenser, The Redeemer opens up
the door to more expensive prizes
like Walkman radios or TVs."
Reinhorn is experimenting with
catalogs similar to stamp and
coupon ca talogs that offer a variety
of redeemable items.
R.N .D. was established in early
1980 when Reinhorn and partner
David Glimcher incorporated the
company to place video games in
major grocery chains. It introduced
them to Kroger stores in Columbus ,
Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania ; Louisville,
Kentucky ; southern California;
Michigan; and parts of Indiana. The
firm later supplied videos to con-
venience stores. Most recently, the
company developed restaurant and
arcade concepts in several markets.•
PLAY METER. March 1. 1984