Operator News
Germany – Gauselmann wins out in bid for four WestSpiel casinos
By Phil - 21 July 2021
The search for a new operator for the four WestSpiel-Spielbanken in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is over with the contract going to Germany’s family-run Gauselmann Group from East Westphalia.
Gauselmann operates more than 28 casino locations in Germany and abroad as well as in casinos on cruise ships. Its expertise in operating casinos was one of the most important prerequisites for participating in the award procedure that was initiated in 2020 in order to take over the WestSpiel Group with its four casinos in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Dortmund-Hohensyburg and Duisburg, as well as the option of opening two more casinos in the state. As an applicant with the most attractive offer and proof of sustainable economic performance as well as financial stability and quality, the Gauselmann Group was awarded the contract, which was sealed with the notarial purchase agreement on July 20, 2021. The takeover still requires the approval of the antitrust authorities.
Paul Gauselmann, company founder and board spokesman, said: “We are very pleased about this new, important milestone in our 60-year company history. Personally, it makes me very proud to be able to show here in North Rhine-Westphalia, my home state, that we have mastered the art of gaming. Our concept has already proven to be extremely successful in other federal states and I am sure that we will also prove this in North Rhine-Westphalia. As a company steeped in tradition in the most populous federal state with 18 million inhabitants, WestSpiel offers the best conditions for this.”
The Merkur success concept is based on four cornerstones: the best technologies, the best games, the best atmosphere and the best trained employees.
David Schnabel, Managing Director of Merkur Spielbanken, said: “We are now in the starting blocks, together with our colleagues from the WestSpiel Group, not only to continue the success story of the casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia, but to advance it in line with the times. The Gauselmann Group is valued throughout the gaming industry for its pioneering innovations. In recent years, we have introduced numerous optimisations, particularly in the area of casinos, and have established new processes and procedures in many areas that enable us to focus more strongly on our service concepts. Here we were able to fall back on the decades of experience of the Gauselmann Group as the operator of around 800 venues across Europe. No other company in the industry in Germany has such expertise.”
Mr. Schnabel is already certain that the new colleagues at the WestSpiel Group will also be impressed by the wide range of offers from their new private employer.
“We act on the principle of ‘Never change a winning team’, which means that we will continue to build on the specialist experience and commitment of the entire WestSpiel team. Without the new colleagues, we would not be able to operate the existing and the two newly planned locations,” he explained.
The takeover by the Gauselmann Group will give the casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia a clear impetus for a successful future. The know-how that has been accumulated over the last few decades in both the Gauselmann Group and WestSpiel is the cornerstone for a successful repositioning of the casinos in North Rhine-Westphalialay.
“Our entry into the casino sector in Saxony-Anhalt in 2013 was anything but easy,” recalled Mr. Gauselmann. “But we have created new standards in the German casino sector from what we found and what we have to offer with our more than 60 years of industry experience. We are striving to achieve this success for our new Merkur casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia under the better conditions that WestSpiel offers . And I am sure: we will be successful.”
