Hutchison, who is a well-known figure in the lottery industry and TV game--show world, has been credited with instigating and launching lotteries across the United States, as well as in the UK and South Africa. Indeed, as head of GSI, Hutchison has been involved in launching lotteries on most continents of the world.

Recently, he has been working in the Caribbean lottery market, and has also introduced an innovative systems solution to traditional lottery operators that enables them to sell tickets via networked gaming machines and Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs).

Meanwhile, the deal between Octavian and eBet has cooled – alternatives to the proposed acquisition of Octavian by eBet are being explored. Among the reasons for this decision, says Octavian, is a change in the capital-raising environment. Completion of the acquisition at a later date has not been ruled out.

Under a Heads of Agreement signed in November 2006, eBet was to acquire the larger systems and gaming specialists, Octavian International. The two companies had planned to merge under the new name of Octavian Global Technologies.

Octavian recently scaled down its presence at G2E Las Vegas in order to focus on concluding the long-running eBet deal which, according to Octavian CEO Harmen Brenninkmeijer, had proved to be “far more complicated and protracted than originally expected.”

As part of its continuing expansion Octavian plans to make further announcements soon.

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