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
SYNOT Games Delivers Bespoke Games Exclusively for SazkaHry.sk in the Slovak Market

SYNOT Games has accelerated its growth in the Slovak market through the delivery of branded games exclusively for SazkaHry.sk. Building on its extensive experience and success in the Czech Republic, the company is reinforcing its commitment to providing high-quality, customised gaming experiences tailored to local audiences.
As part of this expansion, two branded SYNOT Games titles originally created for Sazka CZ, Pirátska Plavba and Výlet do Vegas 27, have been translated into Slovak. These are not only localised games but exclusive, tailor-made titles that have already been successfully running on the Czech platform. Their adaptation for the Slovak market for the SazkaHry.sk offers a uniquely personalised and immersive experience for local players.
Martina Krajčí, CCO at SYNOT Games, said: “Our long-term partnership with Sazka in the Czech Republic continues to bring excellent results, and we are proud to expand our expertise to Slovakia for Allwyn Slovensko. By providing exclusive localized content for SazkaHry.sk, we ensure a more tailored and engaging experience for players, while continuing to uphold the highest standards in certified, secure gaming.”
Jan Horyna, member of the Allwyn Slovensko Board of Directors, said: “We’re pleased to cooperate with SYNOT Games in Slovakia. Offering branded games exclusive for SazkaHry.sk in the Slovak language is a natural step in offering original content that resonates with Slovak players and builds our position as a trusted operator.”
The post SYNOT Games Delivers Bespoke Games Exclusively for SazkaHry.sk in the Slovak Market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Aquisitions/Mergers
NOVOMATIC successfully completes sale of ADMIRAL Austria to Tipico and focuses on international growth markets

Europe’s leading gaming technology group has successfully completed the sale of ADMIRAL Austria to Tipico. This transaction underscores NOVOMATIC’s long-term focus on global expansion and marks another important milestone in its international growth strategy. ADMIRAL Austria will remain an important technology partner under its new owner Tipico and will continue to rely on NOVOMATIC’s innovative technology solutions in the future.
Stefan Krenn, Executive Board Member of NOVOMATIC AG, emphasized: “The completion of this transaction marks an important step in our global expansion strategy with a clear focus on international growth markets. ADMIRAL has developed into an established market leader over the past decades, and we thank all ADMIRAL employees for their great commitment. We are pleased to have found a strong and reliable technology partner in Tipico, who will successfully continue the company’s operations in Austria.”
Axel Hefer, CEO of the Tipico Group, stated: “We are delighted about the successful completion of this transaction. ADMIRAL is a leading Austrian company with a strong legacy, and clear potential for future growth. Both companies are synonymous with state-of-the-art technology, innovative products and a high focus to player protection. Our future collaboration is very good news for our customers.”
The closing of the transaction followed the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.
The post NOVOMATIC successfully completes sale of ADMIRAL Austria to Tipico and focuses on international growth markets appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Promatic Games and SYNOT Interactive Announce Strategic Partnership to Strengthen iGaming Expansion in Central and Eastern Europe

Promatic Games, a recognized provider of innovative iGaming content and one of the leaders of the Polish market, and SYNOT Interactive, a dynamic technology company headquartered in the Czech Republic, have officially announced a strategic partnership. The objective of the cooperation is the distribution of the Promatic Games portfolio to SYNOT Interactive’s aggregation customers, with a focus on the strategic markets of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cooperation will accelerate growth for both parties by combining Promatic Games’ tailored gaming portfolio with SYNOT Interactive’s proven platform and extensive presence in regulated European markets.
SYNOT Interactive will be the first aggregation partner for Promatic Games in the Czech and Slovak markets.
“Up until now we have taken a few important steps to enter the Czech and Slovak markets. We have a portfolio of certified games for those markets, and we have integrated with a few platform providers. We have also launched our games with several operators. But obviously, cooperation with a brand like SYNOT Interactive brings new perspectives to our business there,” said Maciej Makuszewski, Head of iGaming at Promatic Games. “We are excited to work with SYNOT Interactive’s aggregation customers to generate great value for them. We are confident that our content will match customers’ tastes in these strategic markets, just as it has been proven in Poland, where we are one of the leading iGaming suppliers. We are of course looking forward to scaling up in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but we are also ready for other challenges with our strategic partner. SYNOT Interactive’s Central European footprint aligns perfectly with our expansion strategy.”
By integrating Promatic Games content into SYNOT Interactive’s modular platform, operators in multiple jurisdictions will gain access to Promatic Games quickly and efficiently. The cooperation will begin with Slovakia and the Czech Republic—both highly regulated markets where SYNOT already maintains a strong operator base—and will later extend to Romania, Croatia, and other Balkan markets. This geographic overlap between Promatic Games’ strategic goals and SYNOT Interactive’s established infrastructure makes the partnership especially powerful.
“At SYNOT Interactive, we are dedicated to building partnerships that create lasting value for both operators and players. We know Promatic Games’ content is strong in Poland, and we believe that, given the content’s quality and type, it can be a great fit for our Central European casino partners. By joining forces, we can accelerate innovation and deliver an enhanced player experience in regulated markets. We appreciate the technology that Promatic Games provides, and we are confident it will work well on the scale that SYNOT Interactive can offer,” said Petr Březina, Head of Sales, from SYNOT Interactive.
The agreement underscores how strategic alliances are shaping the future of the iGaming industry. With regulatory landscapes becoming increasingly complex, operators require diverse gaming content that meets local compliance standards. The cooperation between Promatic Games and SYNOT Interactive demonstrates how combining expertise can generate synergies in distribution, compliance, and player engagement, creating mutual benefits for both companies and their partners.
The post Promatic Games and SYNOT Interactive Announce Strategic Partnership to Strengthen iGaming Expansion in Central and Eastern Europe appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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