Shuffle Master (NASDAQ:SHFL), the specialist in automatic card shufflers and table games, keeps raising the stakes. On Monday, the company announced that it will buy Australia-based casino games maker Stargames. After the all-cash $108 million deal that will run the company roughly $110 million in enterprise value, Shuffle Master will be able to grow its presence in the Australian and Asian markets, where Stargames is a leading player.
The deal prices Stargames at 25 times trailing earnings, a discount to the 35-times multiple that Shuffle Master is currently fetching. That's why the deal appears to be accretive to earnings in the near term.
There may also be synergies to make this more than just a matter of buying an attractively priced peer. Shuffle Master already has a working relationship with Stargames. It distributes Stargames' Rapid Roulette games in the United States and Caribbean gaming markets. There may be some overlap between Shuffle's Table Master and Stargames' Vegas Star multi-terminal gaming system, which marry electronic gameplay with simulated dealers, but Shuffle Master thinks it will be able to take advantage of the redundancy by improving on both platforms.
Stargames also sells slot machines. That's an interesting appendage, given that Shuffle Master sold off its slot business to IGT (NYSE:IGT) nearly two years ago. Then again, casino supply titans like IGT, Shuffle Master, and WMS (NYSE:WMS) have no problem being chummy with one another when sense and logic prevail.
Like one of its signature casino card-game shufflers, Shuffle Master knows what it's dealing with here. The company has made a habit of buying up everything from radio frequency ID patents to smaller rivals. More often than not, the acquisitions have worked out well for the company. Its stock was recommended in Motley Fool Stock Advisor back in March of 2004 and has produced a stock market return nearly three times greater than the S&P 500's return in that same time.
So whether Shuffle Master uses Stargames to expand its presence in the Eastern Hemisphere or improve its own electronic gaming products, I'd bet that the company will get it right again. Despite its high short interest ratio, the company has found that its most rewarding cards have been the ones dealt to its shareholders.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz may live dangerously, but that doesn't mean he'll hit on 20 in blackjack. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is a member of the Rule Breakers analytical team, seeking out tomorrow's great growth stocks a day early.
