Continuity, Succession and Growth Institutionalising GLI for the next 30 years


G3 spoke with James Maida, President and CEO of Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), at G2E Las Vegas, following confirmation that private equity firm CVC Capital


Partners has acquired a majority stake in the business. Maida explains what the transaction means for GLI’s 1,700-strong team, its regulator and supplier partners, and for his own leadership as the company enters its next stage of institutional growth.


James, this is GLI’s first time bringing in an outside investor since its founding in 1989. Can you tell us how you and co-founder Paul Magno arrived at this decision?


Paul and I started GLI 36 years ago with just the two of us. We’ve never taken a bank loan, never had outside investors, and we’ve always run the business conservatively, no stock options, no external shareholders, just us and our people.


What’s changed now is that we’ve reached a point where GLI is a truly global institution, 1,700 employees, operations on almost every continent, and we have a responsibility to make sure the company outlives its founders. Tis transaction with CVC allows us to institutionalise GLI for the long term. It’s about continuity, succession and growth.


We are selling a majority stake, but Paul and I remain significant shareholders. I will continue as President and CEO, and the day-to-day operations will feel no different for our employees, regulators or clients. If it does, then we’ve done something wrong.


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How did you select CVC as your partner, and what do they bring to GLI?


We went through a 14-month process, starting with 52 potential partners and narrowing it down to one. CVC stood out because they’re one of the world’s largest and most respected private equity firms.


What they bring is the ability to help us grow in ways we couldn’t before. We’ve always been debt-free and risk-averse. If we wanted to make a $50-100m acquisition, that meant reaching into our own pockets. With CVC’s backing, we can pursue larger opportunities, inside and adjacent to gaming, while keeping our same principles.


CVC have offices around the world, in Hong Kong, Australia, London, so it’s like having a partner with boots on the ground wherever we need them. And just as importantly, they bring fresh perspective. When you’ve run a two-person board for 35 years, you can fall into an echo chamber. CVC brings experience, capital, and constructive challenge. But they’re not buying us to fix anything, we’re having record years. Tey’re investing because they believe in what we’ve built and want to help us scale globally.


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