Inside Asian Gaming

July 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 29 with prostate cancer in the mid-90s, he portioned off his shares in Aristocrat to his family, which still holds a sizeable share of the listed company.The family was forced to surrender its voting shares, however, so the company could win regulatory approval in US markets. Having already parcelled off his empire, Mr Ainsworth may have felt an ever-so- slight tinge of chagrin when a biopsy later cleared him of cancer. Given a new lease on life, despite his age—he turns 85 on July 11—he was not yet willing to retire. After all, he has over 50 years of experience in slot manufacturing and retains his knack for conceiving innovativeproducts.He therefore decided to go into competition against industry heavyweights Aristocrat and US- based IGT, “which really metamorphosed from being his American sales agents” into the world leader, according to the Australasian Gaming Magazine . Mr Ainsworth founded the small, hungry Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT) in 1995. He may not gobble up his new rivals, but is actively seeking new international markets—including Macau—to expand the reach and sales of AGT. up the high growth gaming activities of the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate. Mr Niglio, 61, has extensive experience of the US gaming sector, including a stint as Executive Vice President of Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Neptune Group, known until July 2007 as Massive Resources International Corp, has interests in securities’ investments and electrical engineering as well as gaming. The company is probably best known to the general public as operator of the casino cruise ship Neptune, which it acquired in June 2005 for HK$68 million and which sails out of Hong Kong to international waters. Within the gaming industry, the company has a growing profile in the operation of VIP junkets to Macau. Since the beginning of 2007, Neptune Group has been buying up smaller junket operators or taking equity stakes in entities that have profit agreements with Macau junkets. The company is now considered— along with A-Max Holdings, Dore Holdings and Golden Resorts Group (companies that are also Hong Kong listed)—one of the key junket aggregators in the Macau market. Neptune Group has been tipped by a number of analysts as the most likely partner for Galaxy Entertainment Group for its ‘jumbo junket’ facility of at least 100 new VIP tables at Galaxy StarWorld. At the time Inside Asian Gaming went to press, shares in Neptune Group were suspended from trading pending the announcement of what the company described in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong as “a very substantial acquisition.” 45 Leonard H. Ainsworth Executive Chairman, Ainsworth Game Technology 46 Nicholas J. Niglio COO and Executive Director, Neptune Group Asian Gaming 50 In 1954, Len Ainsworth founded the company that would become the world’s second largest slot machine manufacturer, Aristocrat Leisure. Mr Ainsworth thrived in a cutthroat industry.On the night of November 20,1954,the roof of theAristocrat factorywas blownoff,allegedly at the instigationof a rival manufacturer.This perhaps strengthened Mr Ainsworth’s resolve to “gobble up” his rivals “one by one” by bringing mass-production to the industry, and offering his machines at much lower prices. He came to be dubbed “the poker machine king” of Australia. When Mr Ainsworth was diagnosed Following his appointment as COO and executive director of Neptune Group in 2007, Mr Niglio has been helping to ramp 47 Tony Tong Chairman and CEO, PacificNet Mr Tong co-founded PacificNet as a provider of e-commerce, internet and mobile gaming for the Chinese market. Riding the wave of the company’s early success in the Macau gaming market and recognising the market’s potential, Mr Tong has since shifted PacificNet’s focus to gaming and gaming technology development. As an early mover in Macau, Mr Tong is in touch with the needs and wants of the election to the Euro-Asian Cooperation on Gaming (ECG) Association,which promotes the development and ongoing growth of gaming. expanding and increasingly sophisticated Asian gaming market, as reflected by PacificNet’s design philosophy, which specifically targets Asian players. This has made PacificNet a leading domestic developer and manufacturer of gaming products for Asian players, and with a team of over 500 programmers, the company is securing more Macau casino operators as customers. As new Asian gaming markets come online, the company already has a foot in the door through its offices in the Philippines, Hong Kong and China. A regular on the speakers’ circuit, Mr Tong was recognized for his contribution to the gaming industry with his recent