Gauselmann acquires four new casinos
This acquisition came about largely because the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior and Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG launched a tender for the privatisation of WestSpiel and the sale of NRW Bank shares at the beginning of 2021.
Gauselmann won the tender in July and signed the deal to acquire WestSpiel. The deal was reviewed by the relevant regional authorities and finally approved two days ago, on 1 September.
With this acquisition, Gauselmann will now strengthen its market position with a monopoly on land-based gambling in the region. In addition, if Gauselmann decides, it will be allowed to open up to two more casinos in the region. Gauselmann has not yet announced any such intentions, as the group is likely to look at integrating the newly acquired casinos first.
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Integration of the casinos into the new owner's business
The respective parties have issued statements about the historic deal that will make Gauselmann the market leader in North Rhine-Westphalia for more than a decade.
Paul Gauselmann , the group's founder himself, said he was looking forward to working with the existing employees of the four WestSpiel casinos.
"Together we will make casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia even more successful," Gauselmann solemnly announced.
Gauselmann is known as an active public figure in the European gambling scene. In March this year he wrote a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying that the UK's decision not to reopen the adult gaming centres on 12 April had disappointed him. Gauselmann asked the politician to reconsider his position.
Merkur Spielbanken managing director David Schnabel said his side had used the time between the signing of the contract and its final approval as a preparatory window. During this time, he took care of everything necessary for the final assimilation of the four casinos into the Gauselmann Group.
"In addition to the technical and organisational aspects, the focus has been on the personal presentation of the management to colleagues at the casinos and the headquarters in Duisburg," explained Schnabel.
He also said that he plans to discuss the future of the casino with everyone involved in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Schnabel has planned welcome parties to entertain the new colleagues at the Schloss Benkhausen training centre.