Eastern European casino operator Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) has acquired the operations of Latvian casino outfit SIA Garkalns and its SIA Post-Nevada subsidiary.
The two target companies operate 20 slots parlors in Latvia – 10 in the capital Riga and 10 regional facilities – comprising a total of 432 slot machines. The move follows the 2013 acquisition of the SIA Altea business, which comprised 17 Latvian slots halls, bringing OEG’s total Latvian presence to 56 gaming halls offering nearly 1,500 slots and 19 gaming tables.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed but SIA Garkalns and SIA Post-Nevada generated revenue of €6m in 2014. The deal still requires the approval of the Latvian Competition Council. Assuming that’s forthcoming, the properties will eventually be rebranded under the Olympic Casino banner.
OEG CEO Madis Jääger said his firm was “in the middle of a year of intense expansion.” In March, OEG subsidiary Olympic Casino Eesti AS acquired two casinos in Estonia from Casino Cleopatra, boosting OEG’s Estonian presence to 20 gaming facilities. Jääger said OEG is also working on “a large project to enter the market in Malta” in addition to building OEG’s “flagship casino and the first Hilton in the Baltics.”
OEG posted its financial results covering the first six months of 2015, which showed revenue up 12.1% year-on-year to €80.7m, of which 94% came from gaming revenue. Earnings rose 10.3% to €18.4m while operating profit increased 14.5% to €1.9m.
OEG’s Latvian operations were up 20.2% to €26m in H1, while the Estonian business gained 7.2% to €16.2m. The Polish market placed third with €13.3m (+9.4%), followed by Lithuania (€10.8m, +0.8%), Slovakia (€7.8m, +0.9%), Italy (€4.8m, +95.9%) and Belarus (€487k, -49.6%). OEG finished out H1 with 96 gaming venues, three more than the previous year, offering a total of 3,367 slots and 185 gaming tables.
