Package of four casinos has option to open two more in Nordrhein-Westfalen state
A Europe-wide procurement procedure for the sale of the company shares in the WestSpiel Group was launched on December 18 under the management of Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft who will act as transaction advisor.
As a state-licensed casino operator, the WestSpiel Group currently has 900 employees and four casino locations in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Dortmund-Hohensyburg and Duisburg, the exclusive casino monopoly in North Rhine-Westphalia. The group of companies up for sale is to be sold as a whole. The shares in the WestSpiel Group are currently held by NRW.BANK, the development bank of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
On May 8, 2018, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia decided to privatize the WestSpiel Group. With the law on the approval of public casinos in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which came into force on June 3, 2020, an essential prerequisite for privatization was created by enabling the operation of casinos in NRW under private ownership for the first time. Prospective buyers from Germany and abroad can now qualify for the subsequent offer and negotiation phase via a participation competition.
According to one State official, Dusseldorf is an ideal location for another casino, as it “would sharpen the cultural profile of our city and strengthen economic power,” adding that “a casino in Cologne has been under discussion for years.”
SPD Spokesman Markus Weske said: “The castle of the district government on the Cecilienallee is the ideal place for a casino. Many commercial gambling halls must also close in Dusseldorf. Of the current 100 gambling halls, only 34 will be left in two years’ time. I agree that Dusseldorf can therefore expect revenues from a casino of up to €10m a year.”
Local news puts the Gauselmann Group as front runners to enter the tender for the acquisition of the casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia. The family-owned company based in Espelkamp, East Westphalia, has taken over ten casinos in three federal states.
Year-end figures for 2019, has WestSpiel reporting €136.8m in gross gaming revenue, up 27.0% year-on-year, with tax contribution of €65.8m. The company employs 1,020 people at the year’s end, and casinos visitors increased by 3% to register just above one million.
