Palatine-based pinball company, American Pinball, has been sold by its owners, Aimtron. The new owner is JB Vincent LP, a private investment company. They announced their new purchase in a press release today.
American Pinball was set up at the end of 2015 by the Vassani family who own the electronics design and manufacturing business, Aimtron. It got off to a rocky start when, in an attempt to bring on board a big name designer, it partnered with John Popadiuk to make a Houdini design. In exchange, American Pinball provided manufacturing facilities for Popadiuk’s Zidware company to build the Magic Girl game.
While they looked beautiful, the Magic Girl games produced in the American Pinball factory were mostly unplayable due to basic design and manufacturing shortcomings. Likewise, the Houdini: Master Mystery design from John was deemed unplayable and was junked in favour of a new Houdini design by Joe Balcer. It was his design that eventually became American Pinball’s first release.
American Pinball has had a turbulent time of late. The company’s President and founder, Dhaval Vasani, left, with oversight of the business transferring to Aimtron head, Mukesh Vasani and his son, Nirmal. The business then moved from Streamwood to new premises in Palatine, co-locating with a new Aimtron manufacturing operation.
As parent company, Aimtron, headed towards floatation on the Indian stock market in June 2024, Mukesh became increasingly preoccupied wooing investors and preparing the business for partial public ownership. Approval for spending and investment decisions became harder to get, and day-to-day operations were divided between management heads with differing ideas about the company’s direction.
American Pinball’s position in the Aimtron family looked even more precarious when the floatation prospectus was published, showing American’s unimpressive recent financial performance. The company’s pinball design and production functions seemed increasingly at odds with the larger group’s operations.
Most American Pinball staff were laid off towards the end of 2024, including the Executive Vice President, David Fix, game designer Ryan McQuaid, mechanical engineer Zofia Ryan and rules designer Steven Bowden. Without anyone to design or build games, a new contract manufacturing business – Funsup Manufacturing – was formed to build arcade machines at the American Pinball facilities. The prototype of a new skeeball-style game, Whirl-O-Ball, was built at the Palatine factory.
Since then, although the company has been rebranded with a new logo and restructured to become a brand under a new Aimtron-owned parent, Orbit Games, no new pinball games have been produced and the next planned release, Cuphead, based on the Studio MDHR computer game, was mothballed despite the design being almost complete.
Now the company’s assets have been bought by JB Vincent LP who have pledged to bring new long-term investment to grow the brand and rebuild American Pinball design and manufacturing capabilities.
The company has recently been advertising for staff in a wide range of roles.
There has been some scepticism about the attractiveness of working for American Pinball, given their uncertain financial position and high staff turnover. This is highlighted as one of the first things new owner, J. Bryan Vincent wants to address.
He says, “…our top priority is building trust in the company while fostering a positive and engaging culture for employees and customers.“
Poor financial management and lack of investment in the business have both previously been cited as contributing to American Pinball’s demise. The new owner says he’s ready to fix both these, saying, “JB Vincent is committed to providing the liquidity and every resource available to make American Pinball a market leader that is passionate about serving the pinball community.“
While the purchase is of American Pinball’s assets, there is no detail yet on what that includes. However, the company says the positions advertised above are to work at their premises in Palatine, suggesting the design and manufacturing won’t be transferring to another JB Vincent-managed facility.
Here’s the full text of the press release:
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JB Vincent LP Announces Acquisition of American Pinball New ownership signals long-term investment in innovation, brand growth, and American manufacturing excellence. San Angelo, TX – [January 15th, 2026] – JB Vincent LP today announced that it has acquired the assets of American Pinball Inc., marking a significant new chapter for the company. This acquisition positions American Pinball for renewed growth, expanded innovation and a strengthened commitment to delivering licensed titles paired with the highest-quality manufacturing in the industry. J. Bryan Vincent is a seasoned investor with a proven track record in brand imaging, product development and innovation, as well as scaling high-quality manufacturing operations. Under the direction and leadership of JB Vincent LP, the company will focus on building out a best-in-class team, enhancing product design, intellectual property, and building long-term value while honoring the craftsmanship and creativity that the pinball community expects. “This investment is about the future,” said J. Bryan Vincent, Managing Partner of JB Vincent LP. “Both American Pinball and Orbit Games have some elements we can build on; However, our top priority is building trust in the company while fostering a positive and engaging culture for employees and customers. I am a pinball enthusiast, so this investment is personally exciting for me. We are hitting the ground quickly and are already in the process of securing valuable licensing agreements for upcoming games. JB Vincent is committed to providing the liquidity and every resource available to make American Pinball a market leader that is passionate about serving the pinball community.” Vincent brings decades of experience as a manufacturer, with expertise in developing differentiated products and brands that resonate with customers. His background includes successfully leading organizations through growth phases that require both creativity and discipline in manufacturing. “Pinball is a uniquely American manufacturing story,” Vincent added. “Our goal is to ensure American Pinball is positioned not just to survive, but to thrive by building a community-oriented culture the that attracts people committed to building the best machines that are innovative, beautiful, and exciting to play. We believe pinball is an adventure and we invite our customers to Play the Adventure with us.” About JB Vincent LP JB Vincent LP is a family office with investments across a range of asset classes and has a particular focus on building out operating companies to be a leader in niche markets. Media Contact: Ron Lindeman, President/ron@americanpinball.com |
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