Gaming company WMS to close Waukegan HQ; 247 workers affected

WMS Gaming Inc., a maker of gaming and video-lottery machines, plans to close its Waukegan headquarters in June, affecting 247 workers.

The company filed documents with the state in April that said it intended to close its headquarters. The filing was released this week by the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The employees were notified that their positions would be eliminated between June 2 and July 14, said company spokeswoman Mollie Cole.

The company also plans to reassign 101 positions from this facility to other locations during the same period. Some will go to Scientific Games research and development campus in Chicago, which has about 400 game designers and engineers and other positions, she said.

WMS was acquired by Scientific Games in January 2013 for about $1.42 billion and announced the move to Las Vegas in January.

Scientific Games is a developer of technology-based products and is a supplier of lottery and gaming equipment across the world. The company's products include instant lottery games, lottery gaming systems and Internet applications, as well as server-based interactive gaming machines and associated gaming control systems.

In November 2014, Scientific Games acquired Bally Technologies, a gaming casino company based in Las Vegas. Shortly thereafter, the company announced plans to immediately relocate its New York-based corporate headquarters and transfer the WMS Gaming manufacturing operations in Waukegan to Las Vegas. The transfer is expected to be complete in summer of 2015, and will result in the closure of the Waukegan facility.