Global testing and compliance giant Gaming Laboratories International is set for acquisition by Avalon Buyer Limited, a UK-listed firm controlled by private equity investor CVC Capital Partners, according to two antitrust filings in Austria and Malta.
The Austrian filing, dated 3 July, is posted on the country’s Federal Competition Authority (BWB) website. It lists a 31 July deadline for written comments from any company “whose legal or economic interests are affected by the merger”. The Maltese filing, last updated 11 July, is posted to that country’s Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority portal. That filing only listed a seven-day comment period, which has since passed.
Avalon was incorporated 24 April, according to UK business records. The company lists two US-based directors, Zachary Kelly and Matthew Turner. Kelly is an investment director for CVC and Turner is CVC’s head of strategic opportunities for North America, per LinkedIn.
No financial terms are disclosed in either filing, which say only that Avalon intends to acquire sole control of GLI as well as affiliates Worldwide Laboratories LLC and Kobetron LLC. The acquisition “concerns testing, inspection and certification services for the gaming industry”, per the Austrian filing.
CVC did not respond to requests for comment. Officials from GLI declined to comment for this story.
GLI was founded in 1989 by James Maida and Paul Magno and is headquartered in Lakewood, New Jersey. It has grown to become one of the most influential behind-the-scenes companies in the global gaming industry. As the premier independent testing authority, its standards and accreditations carry more weight than perhaps any non-regulator.
The company has expanded all over the globe since its inception and currently lists 32 total offices. GLI has been especially influential in standing up emerging markets throughout the years, some of which have grown to become major players. This includes Australia, Macau and, more recently, Brazil and the UAE.
GLI has grown beyond land-based product testing and expanded into sports betting, iGaming and much else. In addition to testing, the company now offers services related to cybersecurity, responsible gaming, consulting and more. For 25 years running, GLI has also hosted its annual Regulators Roundtable, among the biggest educational events in the industry.
As a private company, GLI’s performance and revenue are largely unknown. But its own growth, coupled with a string of acquisitions in recent years, would suggest at least a nine-figure price tag.
“We never take anything off the table,” Maida said last year when asked by Fantini Research about a potential sale. “But it’s important that we’re thinking about, ‘What does GLI look like in the next 35 years?’ … So that’s really what I’m focused on, not just about me and my mortality.”
Jersey-based CVC has a long history of gaming investments, especially on the sports betting front. This includes ownership interests in William Hill, IG Index, Sisal, Sky Bet and others. It also is heavily invested in non-gaming sports and entertainment industries.
However, most of those gaming assets were divested in years past, and the firm has not been as aggressive in the sector recently. In 2022, CVC partnered with Belgian-based Gaming1, and in 2024 it agreed to sell the US assets of Tipico to LeoVegas. The GLI acquisition would represent a significant reinvestment back into the sector.
CVC is ranked as the sixth-largest private equity firm in the world by Private Equity International.
The acquisition of GLI would mean that both of the industry’s top testing companies were sold to private equity this year. GLI’s longtime rival BMM Testlabs was acquired by Visualize Group for an undisclosed sum in April.
Under that deal, BMM’s RG training unit was not included in the transaction, only the testing and cyber divisions. Given that GLI operates very similarly, it raises the question of whether CVC is buying the whole business or just parts of it.
The BMM deal was also unique in that founder Martin Storm stayed on through the acquisition and retained a “significant stake” in the business. Whether CVC would structure a similar deal with Maida and Magno remains to be seen. Regardless, both deals would indicate that testing and compliance is an increasingly attractive business, especially amid the global expansion of the industry.
“Our team has closely studied the rapid global expansion of regulated gaming markets and we believe this trajectory will continue,” CC Melvin Ike, managing partner of Visualize, said after the BMM deal. “As new jurisdictions open around the world, the need for safe and compliant gaming continues to rise.”
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