Whether or not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffles her to a new cabinet post on Wednesday, Chrystia Freeland's imprint on Canada's foreign policy will remain visible for some time to come, analysts suggest.

That will be especially true in how Canada pushes forward with its top priority: getting the new North American trade deal ratified and reinforcing the crucial economic bond with its key ally, the United States.

But her decision to position Canada as a leader on a crisis in Canada's greater neighbourhood, the meltdown of Venezuela, may be Freeland's most influential move as the country's top diplomat.

Freeland was appointed foreign-affairs minister in January 2017 with one very important marching order: deal with the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump and keep the North American Free Trade Agreement, and Canada's economy, from being trashed.

Freeland largely accomplished that, even though NAFTA's replacement has yet to be ratified. But behind the headline-grabbing fight to save a trade deal that was crucial to Canada's economic survival, a debate simmered within Canada's foreign ministry over how to address the very real economic and political implosion that was underway in another nearby country: Venezuela.

According to Ben Rowswell, Canada's then-ambassador to Venezuela, the internal division at Global Affairs Canada boiled down to this: should the problem be left to its Latin American neighbours, or should Canada step up to help?

Three years later, Canada is a key member of the Lima Group, a bloc of about a dozen countries in the Americas, minus the United States, that has made a concerted, if not successful, effort to promote democracy in Venezuela and stanch its epic flow of refugees.

"One of the reasons why Canada is at the centre of regional and international discussions of Venezuela is very much due to the personal initiative of Minister Freeland," said Rowswell, the president of the Canadian International Council.

"There was a real internal debate inside Global Affairs Canada that was resolved when Minister Freeland made this a signature issue of Canadian foreign policy in the Trudeau years."

Which raises the question: how indispensable does that make Freeland?

Though she represents a downtown Toronto riding, Freeland is fond of her Alberta roots she was born in Peace River and that connection could be of some use to a governing party with no seats there or in Saskatchewan.

Having faced unpredictable negotiating partners abroad, Freeland might appeal to Trudeau as a domestic intergovernmental-affairs minister, or in some other capacity where contending with fractious premiers would be a big part of the job.

As a journalist, she reported on finance and particularly economic inequality, one of the Liberal government's policy preoccupations.

"If a new minister is appointed, there will be quite a lot of relationships to be built that she's already established through the very significant support she's shown to the people of Venezuela over the last few years," said Rowswell.

"She's a household name in Venezuela because of her leadership of the Lima Group."

As effective as she was, especially in dealing with the Trump administration on NAFTA, no minister in any portfolio is indispensable, said Colin Robertson, a retired diplomat with extensive experience in Washington and across the United States.

"I think she's done a superb job as foreign minister. But I don't think she has to have that job," said Robertson, vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Freeland's approach to widening Canada's approach to relations with the U.S. beyond the White House and the Capitol will be her greatest policy legacy, and one that any successor will have to carry forward, he said.

With NAFTA under threat, and Trump so unpredictable, Freeland presided over a charm offensive that targeted key Congressional leaders, as well as state governors and business leaders in key states that had strong economic ties with its partner to the north. Canada's then-ambassador David MacNaugton quarterbacked the effort on the ground and it also involved the outreach of about a dozen cabinet ministers.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna were among them, and both have the bona fides to take over where Freeland left off, Robertson argues.

Garneau chaired the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and was the Liberal foreign-affairs critic in opposition prior to the party's 2015 ascent to power. McKenna has travelled widely as the international face of Canada's climate-change policy a bruising fight that has made her a lightning rod for online trolls and real-world haters.

Even if she's shuffled, Freeland would still have an influence on foreign policy during confidential cabinet discussions because she has a proven track record, and Trudeau is known to allow such cross-pollination, Robertson said.

"Freeland is always going to speak out. You don't lose anything. She will still be in cabinet. She still has all that experience."

But in an uncertain world, and with a minority government facing an uncertain lifespan, some argue it would be inadvisable to remove Freeland now.

Bessma Momani, a senior fellow the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont., said there isn't a deep pool of options from which Trudeau could draw a replacement.

"It's not an easy file," she said.

"These are important bilateral personal relationships that are built. In a minority parliament, this might not last very long. You don't want to put someone in there for two years, at most, where they don't really get a chance to grasp the characters and personalities."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2019.

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Boris Johnson visited West Monkton Primary School in Taunton yesterdaySTEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA

The Conservative benches will be far more pro-Brexit whatever the result of the general election next month as Boris Johnson recasts the party in his own image.

As the deadline passes for candidates to register in the general election, Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party will have a role to play in shaping the Tory benches.

Mr Farage had agreed to pull 317 Brexit Party candidates from Tory-held seats to avoid splitting the Leave vote. Senior Conservatives demanded, however, that he stand down candidates in Labour-held marginals where the Tories have a chance of winning. They claim that Mr Farage will be responsible if there is a hung parliament and Brexit does not happen.

Analysis by The Times of the 51 seats won by the

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HP rejects takeover offer from Xerox - 660 NEWS

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by The Associated Press

Posted Nov 17, 2019 12:41 pm MST

HP Inc. says its board has rejected a roughly $33.5 billion takeover offer from Xerox.

The Palo Alto, California-based company said Sunday that the cash and stock deal undervalues its business and its board cited concerns about outsized debt levels should the companies combine.

HP, which makes computers and printers, said it recognizes the potential benefits of consolidation and remains open to exploring other options to combine with Xerox Holdings Corp.

Both companies have faced difficulties as the demand for printed documents and ink have waned.

The Associated Press

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HP rejects takeover offer from Xerox - CityNews Calgary

An untimely leak to RNZ brought some clarity to the governments plans for its media assets yet left many questions unanswered. Duncan Greive analyses the latest revelations.

RNZs flagship Morning Report programme today led its prime 7.10am slot with a bombshell about Radio New Zealand itself. Political editor Jane Patterson had the scoop on a story which has been building for much of the year, and become the default conversation topic for those working in journalism and communications: what did the government plan to do with its media assets?

Speculation had centred around a mega-merger of multiple entities, but Pattersons report quoted an advisory group as having collectively recommended the government agree to disestablish TVNZ and RNZ and to establish a new public media entity. It still needs to make it through the Cabinet process, but the direction of travel is now visible. Mori TV is said not to be part of the plan.

Its the latest in a string of huge media stories to drop over the past month, many of them connected to MediaWorks. The radio, television and outdoor advertising giant had been publicly advocating for TVNZ1 to be made non-commercial so as to fix what it perceived as a structural inequity in the advertising market. After the government resisted its increasingly loud pleas, MediaWorks announced that Three was for sale in October, with the prospect of it being shut down should a suitable buyer not emerge. This was followed by the resignation of Newshubs head of news, Hal Crawford, with the longtime head of NZ on Air not long after.

All this occurred against a backdrop of a newish broadcasting minister in Kris Faafoi engaging with public and private media about the industrys travails. The expectation of substantial and far-sighted change had built hugely before Pattersons story broke and the scope of what she described certainly met and probably exceeded the desired scale.

Yet as much as the story revealed, the gaps yawn. There are a number of critical questions which need answering. And while the process has been signalled as one which will take years, some signal that the direction of travel is now critical so as to allow both TVNZ and RNZ to calm affected staff and convey confidence to clients and audiences.

The Spinoff has spoken to several well-placed sources in public and private media today on background to inform these questions.

No. The description of a new public media entity is not a case of doing a Telecom/Spark, said one source privy to the proposal. Its better understood as describing a merged organisation which will ultimately house both the government-owned entities. Its critical that whatever the proposal suggests, it doesnt push pause on two organisations in motion and going through major digital transitions.

Additionally, for TVNZ this news has the potential to destabilise some commercial revenue at the worst possible time just a week after its advertiser showcase. CEO Kevin Kenrick moved quickly to reassure advertisers, emailing them this morning to hose down the report, saying: No decisions have been made or announced despite what you may read [TVNZ remains committed to] cost effective opportunities for your business to engage with these audiences.

2. What happens to NZ on Air?

The resignation of longtime chief Jane Wrightson to become retirement commissioner represents an opportunity to fold a reset of public media funder NZ on Air into this larger piece of work. Demands on the organisation have changed massively during her 12-year term, with digital going from a non-factor to the dominant delivery vehicle for younger audiences in that time.

Wrightson negotiated the political and private sectors adroitly in her role and helped transition the organisation to its current platform agnostic model. Yet were the proposal to go ahead, it contains a clear existential threat to NZ on Air: currently well over half its funding goes toward RNZ or shows which air on various TVNZ platforms. If Three transforms or folds, as is a distinct possibility, that percentage will inevitably further increase.

The case for direct commissioning by this new entity will be strong,and with it, inevitable questions about the function of NZ on Air with a smaller pool of platforms and a vastly diminished budget. Without a parallel increase in NZ on Air funding, the new entity has the potential to take more public money and oxygen from a starving private sector.

3. How will the commercial and non-commercial be balanced?

Perhaps the most critical issue is the balance of demands of the commercial and non-commercial, and which feels in the ascendant. An entity of this nature is by no means without precedent RTE in Ireland is probably the best example, while SBS in Australia also runs on a mix of public and advertiser funds. Yet RTE is beset by a financial crisis, and SBS is far less prominent in Australia than this combined entity would be. Theres also the optics one branch of government (the Commerce Commission) has twice refused private sector media mergers which aimed to solve just this kind of generational challenge. Vodafone/Sky and NZME/Stuff have each suffered markedly since those decisions. All would surely find the prospect of competing for audience and commercial partners with a massive and revved up government entity deeply chilling.

Similarly, the Coalition for Better Public Media, which has advocated for change for many years, greeted the news with very cautious optimism, saying hybrid public/commercial funding models can work but only where a) the level of public funding exceeds the level of commercial funding and b) where core services like news and current affairs are completely insulated from commercial priorities.

4. Will existing audiences embrace the new, or be furious at the change?

The likelihood is that the impact on audiences will be minimal. Shows like Q+A might become co-platformed, and there could well be more sharing of hosts and other talent across networks, particularly around major news events. Sources suggest that TVNZ and RNZ are already talking more regularly and constructively than they have in years.

The biggest challenge for both, and for public media in general, is about forging a digital path, innovating and building on reputational strengths online.

A core part of that is in building younger audiences. Both RNZ and TVNZ feel like brands which will be difficult to port down to new audiences, even with more resources and on new platforms. Is there room for a third brand, that approximates what the likes of Triple J and 1Xtra have done in Australia and the UK respectively within the music space? A skunkworks made up of youth and digitally-focused people from both organisations might be better able to succeed, or at least out-perform the likes of TVNZ U and The Wireless two highly-touted youth brands which are no longer with us.

5. Will it prove durable through different governments?

In many ways, this is the most critical question of all. National have a history of shutting down Labours media initiatives (see: the charter, TVNZ 7). Melissa Lee, Nationals broadcasting spokesperson, had yet to consult with caucus when I spoke to her, but expressed grave concern at the prospect of a giant publicly-funded media entity which dwarfs all the others. Lee acknowledged the challenges of the sector, and the importance of local media, saying we are a small country inundated with content coming from around the world. But she expressed concern at the continued reverence for the core forms (radio and linear television), saying that younger people have abandoned them and she had too: no linear, no timeshifting everything is OnDemand.

Lee says she has not yet seen the proposal, and while The Spinoff understands that Faafoi has approached National to try and build consensus on the issue, no formal meeting has yet taken place.

Which is to say that todays leak has provided signals but nothing resembling clarity. It may have accelerated the governments release timetable, yet will also have provided opponents time to lobby against the move. It remains something that TVNZ, in particular, will find hard to digest, and that private sector media will be rightly very wary of. The medias year of chaos rolls on, without a conclusion in sight.

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Five key questions about the new super-broadcaster to replace TVNZ and RNZ - The Spinoff

NEW YORK Nov 19, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Inspired Entertainment Inc earnings conference call or presentation Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 2:00:00pm GMT

* A. Lorne Weil

Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - Executive Chairman of the Board

* Brooks H. Pierce

Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO

Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - Executive VP & Chief Strategy Officer

* Stewart F. B. Baker

Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - CFO & Executive VP

* Chad C. Beynon

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Inspired Entertainment Third Quarter 2019 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that today's event is being recorded. I'll begin today's conference call by referring you to the company's safe harbor statement that appears in the third quarter 2019 earnings press release, which is available in the Investors section of the company's website at http://www.inseinc.com. This safe harbor statement also applies to today's conference call as the company's management will be making certain statements that could be considered forward-looking under securities laws and rules of the CEC (sic) [SEC]. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances.

In addition, please note that the company will discuss both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation is included in the earnings press release.

With that completed, I would now like to turn the conference call over to Lorne Weil, the company's Executive Chairman. Mr. Weil, please go ahead.

A. Lorne Weil, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - Executive Chairman of the Board [2]

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our third quarter earnings conference call. Here with me today are Brooks Pierce, Stewart Baker and Dan Silvers, all of whom you're by now quite familiar with. In the press release this morning, we referred to a three-pronged strategy that we had been in the process of implementing for quite some time: mitigating the impact of the changes in the U.K. regulations that came from the Triennial Review to between $10 million and $11 million a year or possibly less; generation of new business in our worldwide VLT, Virtual Sports and Interactive businesses with a goal to fully offset the impact of the Triennial; and at the same time, as these things are going on, we are integrating the Novomatic U.K. acquisition that we've talked quite a bit about, including realizing the synergies that we had projected at the time, but as we talk more this morning, we're increasingly confident in.

In my remarks, I'd like to touch on each of these, and then hand it off to Brooks to talk in more detail about the business development initiatives and the integration efforts that are underway. Lastly, Stewart will cover the financials and any refinancing-related matters at the end of our prepared remarks before we open it up to questions.

Our third quarter results were, obviously, negatively impacted by the reduction in the maximum stake to GBP 2 in the U.K. LBO market, which was implemented on April 1. As we report that a number of times, it was originally intended to be implemented in October of this year and was accelerated back to April, which created a range of logistical issues, again, that we have discussed a number of times and we won't bother to go into in any more detail today. But as we've discussed previously, we think it will take until we're in the first quarter of 2020 for the full mitigation plan to be executed. As expected, we've borne the full impact of the revenue reduction in the second and third quarters, while having only partially mitigated the impact through cost-focused operational initiatives. Part of the reason that we've only mitigated part of the impact is, as I've mentioned a moment ago, because the change in the regulation itself came 6 months quicker than we had been planning. And some of the things that we can do to very significantly mitigate the impact can't take place until shop closures and other activities have run their course.

I think right now, most importantly, we're seeing a very steady improvement in the sequential year-over-year trend in the gross win per day. Immediately after the implementation of the Triennial on April 1, this measure of revenue performance was down 44%. By May, the decline had improved to 40%. Throughout the third quarter, it was, on average, 37%. It improved again to 25% in the month of October. And so far, in November month-to-date, it's about 20%. So as you can see, there's been a tremendous improvement on the revenue side. And as we'll get to in a moment, we are in the process of implementing concomitant changes on the cost side.

Along the way, we've seen the closures of, so far, of approximately 850 shops. And the aftermath supports our previously outlined thesis that a substantial portion of the revenue lost to the shop closures would be recovered through our remaining estate, and that the shops closed would, on average, be at the lower end of the cashbox distribution.

I should also mention here that at least as of the present time, there have been very limited shop closures on the part of the major operators in the U.K. who are not our customers. Most of the shop closures have been our customers. So as and when we begin to see some closures on the part of operators who are not our customers, logic would say that we will capture at least some parts of that recirculated revenue, and we would expect that to be one of the drivers of continued improvement in the revenue per terminal per day that I mentioned a moment ago.

Whereas our revenues are driven by a direct linear relationship to the cash going into the machines, obviously, many -- actually most of our costs are unrelated to revenues, but in fact, driven simply by the physical numbers of machines. We pointed this out before, cost such as field maintenance, transportation logistics, spare parts, et cetera.

So as the overall industry goes through this period of restructuring and soft consolidation, our cost mitigation efforts are going to be driven by a smaller, more profitable estate, as well as being able to either redeploy the terminals that we have removed in the field into other geographies in the world or cannibalize them for service spares, which is the significant component of our ongoing operating cost.

For some time, we've been forecasting that the fully mitigated adjusted EBITDA impact of the Triennial would be between $10 million and $11 million a year. Based upon what we're seeing so far in the fourth quarter, combined with comprehensive updated modeling, we're confident we will reach this level by the first quarter of 2020. Indeed, given both recent positive sequential revenue trends and a deeper analysis of costs, we think there is a decent opportunity that we can do even better than that.

We've been saying some time that we expect that by the end of the year or early next year, our overall adjusted EBITDA run rate would be back to where it was going as we went into the Triennial, a number around, let's say, $12.5 million to $13.5 million of EBITDA per quarter. So in other words, in that time frame, our other business initiatives, which Brooks will talk about in considerably more detail in a moment such as the launch of our gaming machine business in North America, new machines in Greece, new Virtual Sports contracts and new Virtual Sports products, and very importantly, additional Interactive customers, which we have been adding at a very accelerating rate, altogether will be generating, I would say, at least $2.5 million a quarter. Enough to offset the impact of the Triennial, and again, take us back to a more normalized level of EBITDA, which, as I said a moment ago, is, shall we say, between $12.5 million and $13 million of EBITDA per quarter.

Finally, and right now, I guess in a way, most importantly, we completed the acquisition of Novomatic U.K. Gaming Technology Group. These businesses are experiencing very positive trends, both in terms of the standalone revenue and profitability, but also the integration in the synergy work that we have been doing. The trends have actually been stronger than what we anticipated when we agreed to acquire these businesses. Our thesis on the business, going through its conversion from what was at one time an entirely analog business to what is now more than 60% through the process of conversion to digital, is proving correct. And it's very clear that the pub's cashbox is increasing almost in lockstep with the trend from analog to digital. This, in turn, again, as we have discussed before, has a very positive impact on the EBITDA margins of the business, and we're seeing this happen in parallel.

There are quite a few other positives we're seeing in the NTG business that Brooks will discuss in more detail.

Based on this evidence, we expect that the 2020 adjusted EBITDA coming from the Novomatic businesses will growing nicely over what it was in 2019. On top of this, the work we're doing now seems to suggest that the synergy potential could be greater than what we originally expected, making us incrementally more comfortable with the existing synergy guidance and working towards a higher number. I have said this before, but I should mention that the management team that is dealing with this has had a very considerable experience in the past at integrating acquisitions like this. And so we're pretty confident that the estimates and projections that we're making are going to be comfortably achieved.

Quantitatively, as we've mentioned before, NTG's 2018 adjusted EBITDA added to our original estimate of synergies would yield approximately $35 million of incremental adjusted EBITDA, with only modest growth in revenue and our margins in 2019 and 2020, and quite possibly, a greater-than-expected synergies. We could reasonably expect to reach an adjusted EBITDA run rate in these businesses somewhat higher than the $35 million that we have been talking about.

I should mention here that the Novomatic businesses are somewhat more seasonal than the legacy Inspired businesses, with about half -- more than half of the EBITDA coming in the second and the third quarters because of the importance of the summer holiday season.

So to summarize then, as we look ahead and think about where we'll be, let's say, when we're exiting the first quarter of 2020, so about 2 quarters from now, less than 2 quarters from now, we would expect to have mitigated Triennial impact to around $2.5 million a quarter; to have comfortably added adjusted EBITDA from a range of initiatives in North America, Greece, Virtual Sports, Interactive and so forth; and finally, to have largely integrated NTG, realizing both its stand-alone profitability and the attendant synergies that we're seeing that it has with our legacy Inspired business.

So with that, I'd like now to hand it over to Brooks to further discuss our new business developments, and in particular, our most recent initiatives in North America.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brooks H. Pierce, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO [3]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks, Lorne. And I'd like to add just a little bit of color to some of the points you touched on, in particular, the benefits and the integration plans for the NTG acquisition, as well as the pace of the business developments that we have been working on in the North American market.

The teams have been working hard, as Lorne mentioned, on the integration plans, and we see a number of opportunities both in cost savings and also in revenue growth and synergies. In terms of the acquired businesses, I think it's important to emphasize the addition of the design studios and capabilities of Astra, Bell-Fruit and Innov8. We strongly believe that the combination of these 3 groups with our existing Inspired content development team will position us well to execute on our omnichannel strategy across multiple geographies. Both Bell-Fruit and Astra, for example, are producing content for the U.K. pub sector that is growing that business significantly and is a leader in the space by a large margin. This content is driving the digitization of the pub sector, as Lorne mentioned, from analog, and the shift to digital has historically increased the cashbox for our customer, and thereby, our revenue, and importantly, our margins. So we believe that this content, combined with the leading

Prismatic cabinet, is the key to success in that segment of the business.

We also expect to leverage this new content plus the 6 key Novomatic titles we acquired, including Book of Ra, in the transaction within our U.K. LBO business, both to drive increased cashbox there as well as to reduce our reliance on third-party content to increase both our margins and our revenue.

Moving on to some other areas. As we've discussed on previous calls, our Inspired content is leading the way in performance in Greece, and we're excited to be placing our Valor cabinets. In fact, just this week, the first Valor cabinets were installed in Greece. We use Greece as a proof point from what we thought it would take to succeed in Illinois because the markets are similar in that they are distributed with a large number of locations and a relatively small number of machines per location. We created bespoke content for the Illinois market after doing extensive study and analysis, and are encouraged by the results we are seeing thus far, albeit on only relatively small sample set.

So we expect to be in trials with a number of operators this quarter, and we'll report on the conversion of these to both sales and to follow-on sales in the upcoming quarters with the addition of the 6th machine in Illinois.

The combination and addition of all this content creation will drive not only our Server Based Gaming business, but again, as Lorne mentioned, it will likely also serve as a catalyst for our interactive RGS business as we develop content for the multiple territories that we serve. We're seeing significant growth in that space and expect that to continue beyond the U.K. where we're expanding in Sweden, Spain, Italy, and, importantly, North America.

So our growth strategy in North America really is across the entire business. We talked about the Virtual Sports business, the launch of our games in Illinois. In fact, on Virtual Sports side, we are looking forward to, actually next week, the launch of a new game with the Pennsylvania Lottery of Derby Cash that I think I've mentioned on previous calls. It has different mechanics with a larger payout structures, multipliers, et cetera, et cetera. So we're looking forward to launching that product and getting the results on the Virtual Sports side.

Also on the online side of our Virtual Sports business, which is showing nice growth throughout, we'll be going live with customers in New Jersey coming up shortly like bet365, the worldwide leader in Virtual Sports who will have 17 streams of Virtual Sports launching in New Jersey shortly.

So our pipeline of Virtual Sports offerings in the North American market has picked up, and we're looking forward to rolling out some of the new products we've developed that we've talked about in the past. Our Virtual Basketball product that we've launched in the U.K. and is doing some amazing business, and then some of the new content that we've mentioned before, our NFL Alumni Virtual Football game and also, our hockey game with NHL Legend, Jaromir Jgr. So with that, I'll pass it to Stewart for the financials.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stewart F. B. Baker, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - CFO & Executive VP [4]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Brooks. Good morning, all. So overall, in U.S. dollar terms, revenue compared to the same quarter last year was down around 25% and adjusted EBITDA around 47%. As has been the case in recent quarters, there was a drag from FX rates where we saw some very low sterling rates in the quarter. So in pound rates, these growth rates are improved by around 4%. And these negative variances were caused by 3 main factors. Firstly, as expected, these were impacted by the change in the maximum stakes in the U.K. B2 market. As Lorne mentioned, we saw some pickup during the quarter, but more importantly, it's the trading in October and November to date, that gives real encouragement.

Despite the store closures at the very end of the quarter, our revenue for October was in line with September, and we expect November to be higher. On top of this, the store closures allow us to unlock more of the cost benefits and these are progressing well. Secondly, we had high comparables in hardware and software license sales in the prior year quarter. If you remember, on the last quarterly call, Lorne talked about the fact that given the majority of our revenue is recurring, the nonrecurring piece appeared lumpier than we would like and can cause some large swings quarter-to-quarter. And that's certainly the case here. And incidentally, this is another benefit the acquisition brings in diluting this.

There were also headwinds in the recurring business, including in Italy VLT, where tax increases and other regulation caused a decrease year-over-year of $1.1 million. In Virtual Sports, we were impacted by reduction in license amortization, as we talked about many times before, a contract rephasing and the lack of an international soccer tournament this summer. However, we are confident that Virtual Sports will get back into growth mode in Q4.

So there are quite a few reasons the year-on-year position is challenging to look at. And for that reason, I do think it's worth commenting briefly on the quarter-to-quarter growth, Q2 to Q3. So in taking out the impact of the currency fluctuations, and looking in pound terms, adjusted EBITDA increased from GBP 6.9 million to GBP 7.1 million. This growth is even more pronounced when considering that we had an Italian license sale in Q2 and in Q3 of approximately $250,000. The virtual seasonality impact of about GBP 300,000, and saving and cost, such as exhibitions, in Q3 that we didn't have in Q2 of about GBP 300,000.

In terms of cash flow, for the first 9 months of the year, if we look at free cash flow, which we define as cash provided by operating activities, less net cash used in investing activities, then we see an increase of $7.6 million from a $1.7 million outflow last year compared to an inflow of $5.9 million this year, despite the reductions in adjusted EBITDA. Free cash flow in the quarter was negative $4 million. And whilst having a full quarter impact on cash flows from the Triennial was a factor, as was a Greek VLT CapEx spend, actually the biggest factor was the amount of transaction fees and restructuring costs in the quarter.

In terms of the balance sheet, and specifically the new debt, we now have GBP 140 million of borrowings at LIBOR plus 7 2 5 and EUR 90 million at LIBOR plus 6 7 5 with a 0 floor. This means the average blended coupon rate is around 7.7%. This is down from about 10.9% previously and about 17%, 15 months or so ago. And on top of this term loan, we have a GBP 20 million revolving credit facility.

So finally, briefly on the acquisition. To reiterate what Lorne and Brooks have both said, we're pleased with the state of the business which is firmly back into growth mode, with very positive incomes in both the pub sector, but also the leisure sector. In talking of the leisure sector, as Lorne touched on, this is a seasonal business with a number of venues closing during the fall and winter months. As such, approximately 70% to 80% of adjusted EBITDA of the acquired business has historically come from the second and third quarters.

So hopefully that gives a bit of an overview of the quarter trading and the current debt position. So with that, I'll hand back to Lorne for any additional comments before we open up for Q&A.

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A. Lorne Weil, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - Executive Chairman of the Board [5]

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Thanks, Stewart. That was an excellent review. I don't have any further comments. So operator, you can open the program to Q&A, please.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Your first question is from David Bain with Roth Capital.

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David Brian Bain, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division - MD & Senior Research Analyst [2]

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Great. I just have 3 questions if I could. The first on Illinois. Can we get a sense or a little bit more granularity of performance data to date? I mean, generally, are we in line with the market geography you shipped to? Are you making an interim adjustments to units? Any thoughts on the initial base performance in general? And then trying to get a sense as to the potential rollout in the market as you look to next year.

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Brooks H. Pierce, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO [3]

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Sure. So in Illinois, as I mentioned in my remarks, it's obviously a very small sample size. We have 17 machines installed at the moment, which, again, is pretty small to measure. But we are happy with the numbers that we've seen thus far. We'll be rolling out additional trials throughout this quarter. But as I'm sure you know, the impact of the addition of the 6th machine, they are now talking about that could be possibly in the first quarter next year. So what we're getting is either somebody will put one of our games on trial as a replacement or I think they issued something like 160 new licenses last quarter. So some of that will come this quarter and will install there. So probably early days to say, but I can tell you that both the early performance numbers and certainly the feedback that we've gotten from customers and players has been very positive.

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David Brian Bain, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division - MD & Senior Research Analyst [4]

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Okay. And then on the U.K., it just looks like the Prime Minister may be sympathetic to calls for stricter regulation for online, potentially like the GBP 2 limit on online slots and in credit cards, et cetera. If that ends as a -- like a 2021 event, can you give us an idea of any benefits or potential negatives for Inspired?

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Brooks H. Pierce, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO [5]

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Well, I think we've talked about a number of times that our Interactive business is -- although it's probably the fastest-growing segment, it's also the smallest segment. So we would be impacted far less than many others. And certainly nothing in the magnitude whatsoever in relation to Triennial. Stewart's here and probably is a better expert on U.K. politics, although that might be a bit of an oxymoron with everything that's going on in the U.K. But right now, this is just a ministerial group that is pushing this, so it still will take time to play out. And I'm sure the gaming industry and the remote gaming industry, particularly, probably having learned from some of the mistakes that may have been made on the Triennial, I'm sure will be very aggressive in promoting their responsible gaming activities and obviously we'll support them in that regard. But should not -- if this were to occur by 2021, I wouldn't consider it a huge issue for us.

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David Brian Bain, Roth Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division - MD & Senior Research Analyst [6]

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Okay. Okay. And just last one would be on the NTG acquisition. It's part of the uplift that you all kind of spoke to in 3Q, in particular. Was there a benefit from the Triennial? And to kind of sum up the performance of NTG, because you did give a lot of data points, but can we just quantify the trailing 12 since 3Q? I mean, with synergy, is it closer to 37 or around there?

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Stewart F. B. Baker, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - CFO & Executive VP [7]

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So I mean, in terms of trailing 12 months EBITDA from the acquired business, that's in the GBP 19 million range in sterling.

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Brooks H. Pierce, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO [8]

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(inaudible)

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Stewart F. B. Baker, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - CFO & Executive VP [9]

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Yes. Pre any synergies. Yes, absolutely. Sorry.

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Brooks H. Pierce, Inspired Entertainment, Inc. - President & COO [10]

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And David, let me just add one thing about your comment. I think that's one of the big questions that people are asking us is, has the impact of the Triennial and the LBO shifted game play to the pub market? Kind of hard to quantify because it's not carded play over there as you know. But the reality is, one of the rationales behind this acquisition of NTG is, frankly, whether a player goes from an LBO to a pub sector, we expect to be the leader of both of those segments. So we hope to capture that revenue. But certainly, the pub cashbox performance both in terms of the digital stuff that I talked about before, the content. But, frankly, we believe there is some crossover play.

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Edited Transcript of HDRAU earnings conference call or presentation 12-Nov-19 2:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

David Gauke is standing as an independent having lost the Conservative whipNeil Hall/EPA

The Liberal Democrat leader has rejected David Gaukes plea not to contest his seat, facing down fears in her own party over splitting the Remain vote.

Jo Swinson said that she still intended to field a candidate against Mr Gauke in South West Hertfordshire, despite the former Tory cabinet minister calling for traditional Tory voters elsewhere to back the Lib Dems.

The plea from Mr Gauke, the former justice secretary who is now standing as an independent, was made in an interview with The Times and aimed at denying Boris Johnson a Tory majority which he said would enable a very hard Brexit. He also came out in favour of a second referendum.

Ms Swinson also insisted that the party would replace Tim Walker, the

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Election 2019: Lib Dems ignore David Gauke's plea not to split the Remain vote - The Times

Pontoon at the East Pier Photo Brian Whitehead

Thanet councils Section 151 officer responsible for ensuring the legality and financial prudence of decisions has raised concerns over the way a contract to replace berths in Ramsgate is being carried out.

Finance officer Tim Willis has highlighted concern over whether the proposal to buy two floating pontoons from company Bam Nuttall in a direct contract would breach procurement rules because it does not invite bids from any other firm.

The pontoons, which will cost 1.4million, are for the Bretts aggregate site at Ramsgate Port and for extended berthing at the Royal Harbour for offshore wind farm vessels.

Council Cabinet members will be asked at a meeting tomorrow (November 14) to agree to the deal to buy the pontoons in the two for one offer from Bam Nuttall.

One pontoon will replace berth 4/5 used by Bretts for discharging aggregates brought to the port via sea.

A report to councillors says: If the berth becomes unserviceable or is required to be decommissioned the Council would be in breach of this legally binding agreement with the lessee. The existing berth is at the end of its operational life and there is a high risk of service failure and the need to permanently decommission the berth in the near future. The report says not providing the berth facilities would have catastrophic financial consequences.

The second pontoon is earmarked for the Eastern Gully at Ramsgate harbour. The report says this would provide space for four larger vessels and free up eight existing berths.

However, the report from maritime services officer Mike Humber says the legality of whether the contract should be open to tenders or whether it can be awarded in a process only open to one bidder contractor Bam Nuttall has to be considered.

It also reveals that Mr Willis has not seen the latest legal advice or the project programme, despite being responsible for the proper administration of finance affairs.

The report says: The Section 151 Officer has had concerns regarding the nature of the contract (whether it is a works or supplies contract, with the consequential requirements to follow Public Contracts Regulations 2015); and the procurement process to be followed, i.e. the justification for direct award, over a competitive process.

The Section 151 Officer has not seen the latest specialist legal advice, but he is confident that the Monitoring Officer has done so and assessed the risk to the council of the various options.

Cabinet must seek assurance from the legal comments, and obtain confidence in the legality of the decision to treat this contract as a works contract, and the decision to award the contract direct to BAM Nuttal without competition, when making its decision.

There remain the questions as to whether or not a competitive tendering process or processes would offer a route that would provide better value for money; and whether or not alternative contract packaging would provide better value for money. This decision is finely balanced, bearing in mind the risks, the novel nature of the proposal, and the substantial value of the contract.

By directly awarding a combined supply and installation contract for two pontoons with a value of 1.477m, it will never be known if a different packaging and/or competitive route would have yielded better value for money.

Thanet council says it has had external legal advice from Blake Morgan Solicitors about the risks of challenge involved in making a direct award and concluded It is not possible to say definitively that this is a works or supplies contract. This is important as a works contract would come underneath the EU Procurement threshold but a supplies contract would not. This question would only be answered by a court, if a challenge were raised.

The report says there are sufficient arguments in favour of it being a works contract but adds that responsibility is ultimately a question of judgement for the council, after considering the risks and mitigation measures.

The report says alternative options would prove more expensive with the estimated cost of replacing berth 4/5 with a floating berth being 723k more than the pontoon offer and a fixed berth costing 1.7m-2.6 million more.

The pontoons were previously in use during a tunnelling operation in London with the 3 million tonnes of materials excavated used to create an RSPB nature reserve at Wallasea Island in Essex.

The structures will be installed under permitted development rights rather than seeking planning permission. A marine licence will also have to be obtained for each berth.

The council also hopes the harbour berthing will bring an income of up to 596,975 over five years.

Cabinet members are being asked to agree to the spend of 887,000 for the Port of Ramsgate Berth 4/5 Replacement and 590,000 for the Ramsgate Harbour Commercial Berth in the deal with Bam Nuttall and to delegate contract negotiation and signing to Mr Humber, council director of operational services Gavin Waite and council leader Rick Everitt.

The Amendment Regulations 2009 mean that, in certain circumstances, a court can declare a contract is void as a result of flaws in the procurement process most obviously if it is awarded directly without advertisement or competition.

A public authority found to have breached the public procurement regime could also be the subject of a fine and/or damages.

The issue will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow (November 14).

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Top council officer raises concerns over two-for-one pontoon deal at Ramsgate port and harbour - The Isle of Thanet News

Not long ago, the only alternative to cabinet replacement was to paint the cabinetsa mighty poor substitute, and an impossible task when confronted with largely unpaintable thermofoil cabinets.

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When cost is an issue.

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Refacing vs. Replacing Kitchen Cabinets - The Spruce

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Cabinet Doors - Replacement Kitchen Cabinet Doors, Custom ...

If youre looking for a timeless work of art that cant be replicated, we recommend custom cabinet work. For this, John Moore works closely with a master cabinet maker whose shop is operated right out of Houston. After initial consultations to find out what you need in terms of cabinet sizing, budget, and preferred style, a John Moore technician will sit down with you to draw out your dream cabinet system. At this stage, youll be able to tell us everything you want from your cabinets, down to custom carved doors, exact wood stains, and knobs that complement the construction of your cabinets.

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Cabinet Repair and Replacement - John Moore