INSIGHT LIGHT & WONDER
Into the Light Light & Wonder
Listening to the recent Light & Wonder
Investor’s Day presentation, it was obvious that this is a business refreshing itself after a period defined by debt and lack of clear focus.
The divestiture of its lotteries and sports betting businesses, as well as much of its debt burden, is enabling Light &
Wonder to embrace change, not only as part of a rebrand from Scientific Games, but away from the ethos of that business too.
Light & Wonder… is this a new company?
Simon Johnson: If you define a new company by its ambition, capability and the team that leads it forward, then I’d say that Light & Wonder is a new company. It's a fresh start and that's very much what the name change represents. It is not a conventional name, but what it's seeking to do is pinpoint a change of ambition for the business and the context in which we operate. We have moved away from a quasi-industrial manufacturing mindset, into a high-tech, entertainment and performance-orientated business, becoming the leading cross-platform global game company in the industry.
Jon Lancaster: Light & Wonder's divesture of its lottery business, and the upcoming divestiture of its sports betting businesses, has helped and will help the financial position of the company which means a much wider scope not only across the globe but also our EMEA region. We are now well-funded and well-structured.
Light & Wonder Chairman, Jamie Odell, recently described the transformation to Light & Wonder by explaining that
“We needed to realise that the velocity of the business had changed. The nature of sports betting and lottery were
becoming very different from the core gaming experience.
Paying down the debt proves an essential component to our
strategy, by doing so it allows us to invest in our people and products.”
Scientific Games was held back by debt and by a convoluted holding company structure. You’ve divested lotteries and Light & Wonder is in the process of doing the same with Sports Betting - what remains?
Simon: What’s left is a core focus on games and the way in which we deliver
that experience. We recognise that the purpose of Light & Wonder is to ensure that player experiences online and offline feed into each other – delivering dynamic playing experience across these channels is fundamental to our new strategy. Lottery and sports betting have always sat slightly outside of the core game experience and by paring down that focus we have created a stronger and better led business with a clearer purpose. Te side benefit is the freedom of agency this gives the business as regards cashflow, debt and how Light & Wonder invests in the future. We are in a distinctive position and are singulary focussed on building geat game fully cross platform.
What was the most important part of that change - the reduction of the debt or the focusing of the company solely on games?
Simon: Te recipe of success is different from the past. We needed to realise that the velocity of the business had changed. Te nature of sports betting and lottery were becoming very different from the core gaming experience. Paying down the debt proves an essential component to our
P14 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
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