Supplier News

Germany – Novomatic cleared to buy Casino Royal Group

Novomatic has now received approval from the German Federal Cartel Office to buy the German Casino Royal Group, paving the way for further sustained expansion of Novomatic’s market position in Germany.

The Casino Royal Group currently employs around 1,000 people and recorded gross sales of €102m in the 2016 financial year. The slot hall operator is strongly represented in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia in particular. The existing management of Rolf Falke and Dirk Schilling have been awarded a substantial portion of the excellent corporate development of the Casino Royal Group in recent years.

Novomatic CEO Harald Neumann announced in February that he wanted the company to grow in particular through acquisitions in Europe and the pursuit of its commitments in the USA. He said: “The German market will be characterised by strong changes in the coming years. For this reason, we are already taking the necessary steps through acquisitions to maintain and further expand our strong position in the future.”

Martin Restle, spokesman for the management of the Admiral playing venues in Germany added: “We plan to maintain the already introduced brand name of the Casino Royal Group. In the next few months, we will be working towards the realisation of potential synergy effects, with the main objective of keeping employee competency within the company.”

Through the acquisition of the Casino Royal Group, Novomatic has taken its total number of employees in Germany to over 4,800.