Las Vegas Review Journal Picks Up on G911 IGT-Bringit Exclusive
The IGT proxy fight is getting uglier by the day, even with a national holiday occurring in the States.
The Las Vegas Review Journal picked up on Gambling911.com’s exclusive whereby IGT CEO Patti Hart failed to disclose material information to all investors that a Silicon Valley-based investment bank where her husband is a top executive oversaw the slot machine maker's purchase of a small social gaming technology company last year.
IGT did not disclose the $10 million purchase of San Francisco-based BringIt Inc nor did IGT disclose that Hart’s husband is one of nine managing directors of the said investment bank, Pagemill Partners. IGT had purchased social gaming company Double Down Casino just one month before the Bringit deal.
From the Las Vegas Review Journal:
Now, a year after the fact, the tiny BringIt deal is starting to get noticed. On Feb. 9, the website Gambling911.com first reported the BringIt transaction and Pagemill's involvement.
Material or not, attention to the BringIt deal's family ties comes at an inopportune time for IGT, which is mired in a nasty proxy fight, and for Hart, who has been slammed for her management of the company.
"With respect to the BringIt transaction, the independent directors of the IGT board were fully apprised and consulted with outside legal counsel and vetted the issue in executive session," IGT Vice President of Corporate Communications Susan Cartwright said in a statement to the Review-Journal. "Therefore, no disclosure was required."
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com