Brightstar Lottery Unveils $1.1 Billion in Shareholder Rewards

• Company formerly known as International Game Technology is returning $1.1 billion of capital to investors
• Shareholder rewards program consists of $500 million buyback, special dividend

The company that will soon be formerly known as International Game Technology (IGT) announced today it is returning $1.1 billion to equity investors following the finalized sale of its global gaming and PlayDigital units to Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO).

Brightstar Lottery (NYSE: BRSL) is the new IGT and officially takes that name for corporate and trading purposes on Wednesday. It received $4 billion in net proceeds from the sale of the aforementioned businesses to Apollo, which are being combined with Everi to create a slot machine and gaming fintech behemoth. More than a quarter of that influx of cash is being returned to equity investors.

The Company’s Board of Directors declared a special cash dividend to common stockholders in the amount of $3.00 per share. The record date of the distribution is July 14, 2025, and it will be payable on July 29, 2025,” according to a press release.

Brightstar added that the board also approved a $500 million, two-year share repurchase program, replacing its current buyback plan. In recent years, IGT had a penchant for buying back debt and stock and supporting an annual dividend of 80 cents a share, which works out to a yield of 4.91% based on today’s closing price of $16.29.

Brightstar Lottery Capital Return Beats Expectations

Going into the closure of the Apollo deal, it was widely expected that Brightstar Lottery would return cash to equity investors, but the extent to which that would occur wasn’t clear.

“We are encouraged to see BRSL’s highly anticipated capital return announcement come in nicely ahead of investor expectations, which were wide given limited disclosures though averaging ~$500 million by our estimation with no >$1 billion ‘base case’ expectations, to our knowledge,” observes Stifel analyst Jeffrey Stantial.

Stantial rates Brightstar a “buy” with a $20 price target, implying potential upside of 22.7% from today’s closing print.

Brightstar Lottery Firming Balance Sheet, Too

Brightstar Lottery also said it will use $2 billion of the Apollo deal proceeds to reduce debt, including redemption “in whole the 4.125% Senior Secured U.S. Dollar Notes due April 2026 and the 3.500% Senior Secured Euro Notes due June 2026.”

The company is also repaying outstanding balances on a term loan maturing in January 2027 and a revolving credit facility maturing in July 2027.

“The Company intends to maintain a strong balance sheet with target net debt leverage (net debt/last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA) around 3.0x supported by robust cash flow generation,” according to the statement. “Pro forma for the transaction, approximately $100 million of residual post-closing transaction costs, the full upfront payments associated with the new Italy Lotto license, and the $1.1 billion of capital returned to shareholders, net debt leverage as of March 31, 2025, was 3.5x.”