Formed in 1998, Global Cash Access (GCA) started as a joint venture between three payment processing companies: BA Merchant Services, First Data and USA Processing. First Data consolidated its gaming business assets which included 800 games, while BA Merchant Services provided $35m plus its gaming assets for a 21% stake in the business.
The company underwent a recapitalization in 2004, repurchasing First Data’s shares for $435m which left M&C International with an overwhelming 95% majority shareholding. They subsequently sold these shares to private equity firms headed by Summit Partners for $316m.
The company rebranded as GCA in 2005, being placed on the Nasdaq for the first time and raising $240m in an initial public offering.
The company ran into legal trouble in 2009, when it attempted to expand into Arizona. Allegations were launched against Everi Holdings, claiming that GCA had defrauded banks out of $26m in transaction fees from 1999-2002. In response, co-founders Karim Maskatiya and Robert Cucinotta sold their 26% interest in the company, and GCA ultimately paid $1m to Arizona to settle the investigation.
GCA expanded its slot machine business when it purchased Texas-based slot-maker Multimedia Games for $1.2bn in 2014. The company changed its name to Everi Holdings in 2015 to reflect a pivot to a more business-based model.
Everi Holdings expanded its reach both home and abroad in the last decade, acquiring the Australia-based company ecash Holdings (a developer of cash handling and financial payment solutions) for $23.5m in 2022.
Later that year, they bought out Intuicode Gaming, a Florida-based historical horse racing software developer and manufacturer, for $25m. This reaffirmed their strong position in the global gambling industry.
