News

Global Cash Access files for IPO, wants to raise up to $472M

March 23, 2005

MarketWatch: Global Cash Access Holdings, which delivers cash to gamblers at casinos through ATMs and other means, on March 23 filed to raise up to $472 million in an initial public offering.

The company, which plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "GCA," bills itself as the leading provider of cash access products and services to the gaming industry in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Caribbean.

The IPO comes as the company's 2004 net income ballooned to $256 million on revenue of $403 million, compared with net income of $58 million and revenue of $356 million in 2003.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are lead underwriters of the IPO, which comes on the heels of the blockbuster success of Las Vegas Sands as Wall Street turns its eye on the growing global appetite for gambling.

"The proliferation of card-based payment instruments has led to a general reduction in the amount of cash that consumers carry, including when they visit gaming establishments," the company said in its IPO prospectus. "Therefore, the ability of gaming establishments to maximize revenues depends upon the ease with which patrons can access cash."

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