From Casino City – It seems laughable now in hindsight. Slot machine maker Multimedia Games, Inc. was for sale in 2010 and couldn’t attract a buyer. Today, it’s the hottest commodity for the gaming industry investment community.

“We’re an exciting growth story in gaming, and there aren’t too many of those, to be honest,” said Multimedia Games Chief Executive Officer Patrick Ramsey, 39, who joined the company as chief operating officer in 2008.

A few years ago, Multimedia Games had only a handful of gaming licenses. Now, with licenses in major markets — including Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana — Multimedia Games appears on the cusp cracking the manufacturing sector’s upper echelon.

“I think people have looked at us with just 30 percent to 40 percent of the U.S. market and saw our success,” Ramsey said. “They have to figure we’re bound to be successful when we can sell games to 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. market.” Wall Street agreed.

Brean Capital gaming analyst Justin Sebastiano told investors Multimedia Games is on a clear growth trajectory. In a July research note, he said the company should easily crack into new markets as sales efforts increase.

“We visited 34 regional casinos in the past two months and universally, Multimedia Games was named the up-and-coming slot manufacturer by the property managers with whom we met,” Sebastiano said.

Credit Suisse gaming analyst Joel Simkins said this spring he noticed slot machines produced by Multimedia Games were making inroads on casino floors, even as corporate gaming companies continued to limit their budgets for replacing older games.

“As we have heard from casino operators in Atlantic City and tribal gaming, Multimedia Games is amassing low single-digit market share and orders in a number of locations,” Simkins said.

Right place, right time. It wasn’t always so easy.

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