Central Europe
Sale of WestSpiel Group initiated

• EU-wide procurement procedure started on 18th December 2020
• Prospective buyers can apply now
On 18th December 2020, a Europe-wide tender procedure for the sale of the shares in the WestSpiel Group was launched by Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft as the lead transaction advisor. As a state-licensed casino operator, WestSpiel Group currently has 900 employees and runs four casino locations in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Dortmund-Hohensyburg and Duisburg, holding the exclusive casino monopoly in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. WestSpiel Group, consisting of several legal entities, will be sold in its entirety. The shares in the WestSpiel Group are currently held by NRW.BANK, the North Rhine-Westphalian federal development bank.
Call for competition launched
The government of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia decided on 8 May 2018 to privatise the WestSpiel Group. The Act on the Licensing of Public Casinos in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (‘SpielbG NRW’), which came into force on 3rd June 2020, created an essential precondition for the privatisation. For the first time since then, casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia were permitted to be operated under private ownership. Prospective buyers from Germany and abroad can now qualify for the forthcoming bidding and negotiation phase in a call for competition. The respective tender documents can be accessed via the link quoted in the contract notice as announced in the EU Official Journal (https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:615286-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0) or directly via the tender marketplace NRW (Vergabemarktplatz NRW: https://www.evergabe.nrw.de/VMPSatellite/notice/CXPNYH5D573/documents).
Sound and profitable performance
The WestSpiel Group generated a gross gaming revenue of around €117.2 million in the 2019 financial year attracting around 900,000 visitors in total. This represents a significant growth of almost 27% compared to the previous year (gross gaming revenue 2018: around €92.3 million).
The group’s casinos offer around 80 gaming tables and 900 slot machines in total. The casino operated by WestSpiel Group in Duisburg is currently the most successful casino in Germany in terms of number of visits and gross gaming revenue achieved. In January 2020, the F.A.Z.-Institute nominated WestSpiel Group as Germany’s most future-proof company in the casino industry.
Excellent prospects and considerable development potential
The WestSpiel Group holds the exclusive casino monopoly in North Rhine-Westphalia, the economically strongest and most populous federal state in Germany.
Compared across Europe, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the six economically strongest economies, even ahead of Belgium, Poland and Sweden.
The group’s position in this impressive market has been secured long-term by the amended SpielbG NRW and an exclusive 15-year concession. Furthermore, the new SpielbG NRW principally allows the future owner to also establish two further casino locations in North Rhine-Westphalia with attractive catchment areas each. The presence and availability of casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia is still relatively low for the 18 million inhabitants of the federal state when compared to other federal states. The WestSpiel Group therefore offers considerable potential for further successful growth.
A decision on what form previously unregulated, and thus illegal, online casino gaming will be developed on the basis of the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling has not been made yet. Subject to the structure under state law, WestSpiel Group therefore may have the opportunity to obtain a concession for online casino gambling which, however, has not been regulated to date.
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Central Europe
Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract

Brightstar Lottery PLC announced that it will deploy its comprehensive retail central system technology, Aurora, along with advanced cloud-based software for Sächsische Lotto-GmbH (Lotto Saxony) in the State of Saxony, Germany via a seven-year contract. The contract was awarded to Brightstar following a competitive public procurement.
“The quality and reliability of Brightstar’s world-class lottery technology and operational support, along with its team’s knowledge of Lotto Saxony’s business needs are some of the reasons why we have partnered with the Company for 30 years. We look forward to upgrading our central system to Brightstar’s sophisticated platform and the many benefits its components will produce,” said Herr Frank Schwarz, Lotto Saxony Chief Executive Officer.
“This new seven-year contract marks an exciting chapter for Brightstar and Lotto Saxony as we work together to modernize lottery solutions throughout the state. Brightstar’s high-performing central system and peripherals will enable Lotto Saxony to manage its business more efficiently with the confidence in knowing the technology is secure, dependable, and responsible,” said Marco Tasso, Brightstar Chief Operating Officer International and Italy Operations.
An integral part of OMNIA, Brightstar’s player-centric, omnichannel solution for lotteries, Aurora helps drive lottery innovation and profitability. The platform will provide intuitive, user-friendly applications, tools and reporting capabilities to handle Lotto Saxony’s transaction processing, game management and back-office operations. Lotto Saxony will receive key cloud-based Aurora products including, Anywhere, to securely connect external applications to the retail system, and Performance Wizard, to deliver targeted insights and analytics.
The post Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid

Yellow and black meets green and white! Interwetten becomes SK Rapid’s new team partner. The online sports betting pioneer and Austria’s most popular football club are starting the new season together. The combination with Rapid coach Peter Stöger, who has been an Interwetten expert for many years and will also remain on the sidelines, makes the partnership a real success.
With more than 24,000 club members and over 220 official fan clubs, the Austrian record champions boast the largest fan base in the country! And with the Allianz Stadium in Vienna’s West Hütteldorf, the Green-Whites boast a modern home! Interwetten is expanding its extensive football commitment to include a traditional club and will now be present at SK Rapid’s home games on a ball display or 3D carpet in the stadium, as well as on the Hütteldorf club’s digital channels.
“We are very pleased about the new team partnership with SK Rapid. The connection to a club with great charisma and passion is a perfect fit for Interwetten. And the best part: With our long-time expert Peter Stöger, we already have Rapid’s coach on board ,” explains Interwetten Marketing Director Dieter Grück , who promises fans a comprehensive experience in addition to betting.
Grück adds : “We are planning various digital activations throughout the season that will offer our customers and Rapid fans unique experiences. This will certainly include exclusive promotions with Peter Stöger. With this, we want to underline our connection with Austrian football.”
SK Rapid Managing Director Steffen Hofmann warmly welcomes the sports betting provider to the green and white partner family. “This partnership is a strong signal and demonstrates the trust placed in our club. Together, we are planning innovative activations and are convinced that the collaboration will be very successful. I am delighted that Interwetten is now part of the large green and white partner family.”
The post Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow

Scientific Games will continue to bring exciting instant scratchcard games to Polish National Lottery players through a new agreement with Totalizator Sportowy. Celebrating the instant lottery’s 25th anniversary last year, Totalizator Sportowy is among the top five performing instant game lotteries in Europe (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac). The world’s largest lottery games company has provided scratchcards to Totalizator Sportowy for more than 20 years, with scratchcard game sales in Poland growing by 20% over the past three years (2022 to 2025).
“Our goal is to give our players entertaining scratchcard experiences while responsibly generating maximum proceeds for Polish sport and culture. We are delighted to continue working with Scientific Games to offer fun, modern scratch experiences,” said Katarzyna Woznica-Borkowska, Manager of Instant Products for Totalizator Sportowy.
Most recently, Scientific Games collaborated with Totalizator Sportowy to offer Polish players the PLN30 GIGA 7 game produced with the company’s advanced Dimension technology, which enhances the play experience with three-dimensional, reflection-at-different-angle refractions above and below the game graphics.
Currently, the company provides instant games to 110 government-regulated lotteries worldwide, including more than 50 European lotteries.
“Scientific Games is honored to continue our longtime relationship with Totalizator Sportowy that we have built across two decades,” said Paul Dures, Lottery Sales Director EMEA for Scientific Games. “We look forward to continuing our work to drive meaningful growth for the scratchcard games in Poland creating more innovative and attractive games for players.”
With products that generate more than 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider, and the primary provider to nine of the Top 10 performing instant game lotteries in the world (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac).
The post Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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