Eastern European casino operator Olympic Entertainment Group has opened its newest and largest casino to date in Estonia’s capital Tallinn.
Wednesday saw the official grand opening of the new Hilton Tallinn Park, the first Hilton hotel in the Baltic region. The €45m facility boasts 202 rooms, a conference center, spa, restaurant and “one of the largest ballrooms in Tallinn.”
The ground floor houses the property’s gaming venue, the Olympic Park Casino, which opened at midnight, 14 hours before the hotel cut its ribbon. The property, which OEG is calling its flagship casino, offers slots, gaming tables, an OlyBet-branded sports betting lounge, tournament poker and a large bar area.
The launch was preceded by the completion of the fusion of OEG’s Estonian subsidiaries. In February, OEG completed its acquisition of casino operator AS MC Kasiinod, which has now been merged with Olympic Casino Eesti AS. The Kasiinod acquisition brought the number of gaming venues under OEG’s Estonian banner to 24 as of May.
As a result of the merger, 13-year OEG veteran Erki Tavas has been named managing director of Olympic Casino Eesti. Tavas takes over from Algar Hain, who has decided to leave the company on his own accord.
OEG’s Estonian division reported revenue of €9.5m in Q1, up 14.2% year-on-year. That’s second only to OEG’s Latvian operations, which were up 32.5% to €16m following last year’s acquisition of betting operator UAB Orakulas.
OEG’s combined revenue was up 16% to €45.3m, thanks to good gains from its operations in Lithuania, Slovakia, Italy and Malta, while the Polish division slipped nearly 30% to €4.6m following the closure of one of its two casinos. OEG’s Q1 earnings were up 12.5% to €9m while profit improved 4% to €5.1m.
