Novomatic to sell Casinos Austria Stake to Sazka Group

Novomatic has decided to sell its stake in the Casinos Austria to the Sazka Group. Novomatic has a 17.19% stake and it is now subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Novomatic has confirmed the sale in a brief statement on their website and stated that a binding agreement has been reached with the Czech gambling firm which is in the best interest of Casinos Austria to have “key and long-term shareholders aligned.”

The sale of its stake will see Sazka’s shareholding in Casinos Austria increase from 38 to 55% after securing majority investment rights in the DACH region’s land-based casino operator.

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Robert Chvatal, chief executive officer of the Sazka group, explained: “We believe it is the best solution for the company. We want to ensure stable positive development for CASAG in a long-term partnership of its two biggest shareholders. We are committed to working tly with ÖBAG and CASAG team to achieve well-being for its customers, employees and the communities we do business with. We are prepared to focus on CASAG business and bring innovations to the market.“

“The previous ownership structure has led to no satisfactory development of Casinos Austria. As the smallest major shareholder, we have therefore decided to sell our CASAG shares in order to allow CASAG a clear ownership structure. It is important to enable a stable and sustainable shareholder structure that secures the company in the long term for the future challenges of national and global markets,” said Harald Neumann, CEO of Novomatic.

However, the developer has confirmed that it will keep their 11% stake in Österreichische Lotterien, the operating firm of the Austrian Lotteries. Additionally, it recently revealed that it has opened its third casino operation in the autonomous community of Andalusia in Spain after months of intensive renovation.

The company now has operating casinos in the South of Spain with Casino iral Granada ing Casino iral San Roque, the company’s first acquisition in the region and recently opened, Casino iral Sevilla.

More About the Developer

With over 24,000 employees across the world and headquarters in Gumpoldskirchen Austria, the NOVOMATIC Group of Companies established NOVOMATIC Americas in order to bring state-of-the-art gaming equipment to the North American and Caribbean Markets. The Americas division leverages the design, market analysis and experience of the Austrian group’s R&D divisions to create market-specific commodities that are tailor-made for the North American and Caribbean jurisdictions.

By leveraging the highly-effective content from the Austrian-based brand’s product library, in cohesion with recently developed titles and technology, NOVOMATIC Americas profits from a diverse and advanced portfolio that is important for the Group’s activities on the North American continent.

Source:

“NOVOMATIC AG and SAZKA Group agreed on a sale of NOVOMATIC’s shares in Casinos Austria AG”, novomatic.com/en, December 10, 2019.