Wire EMEA
Casino Tampere Doubles Finland’s Offer
ITALY – Closed since July 27 2018, Casino di Campione, the economic heartbeat of the Italian enclave of Campione d’Italia, planned to reopen on the shores of Lake Lugano at the end of 2021, although the hiring process of 174 members of staff was ongoing through to the New Year.
A new board has been selected with the President named as Erminia Rosa Cesari, and directors revealed as Marco Ambrosini, the former CEO of the casino, and Carmine Garzia, who is currently professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Supsi and professor of business administration at Usi. The Board will make the appointment of the new CEO, with the favoured candidate being Mr. Ambrosini.
Campione d’Italia Mayor, Roberto Canesi, said: “The main criticalities that caused the Campione disaster were: the direct and total financial dependence of the Municipality of Campione on the casino’s income, with the consequent need for payments by the latter of sums completely disproportionate to its own revenue, all with little management control on both sides.
“As the liquidity of the Casino ceased and therefore the payment of these sums became impossible, two factors materialised: on the one hand the Casino company, due to its scarce financial resources, continued to accumulate debts, both towards the Municipality and towards third parties, from another is the collapse of the Municipality which has remained without sufficient income to cover its very high running costs.
“Another critical issue was the failure to promptly reduce the respective management costs. The casino has its own economic and financial budget identified as part of the arrangement plan approved by the court of Como, which provides for punctually quantified payments for the five-year period in favour of the Municipality and a greatly reduced personnel cost compared to the past, both for number of employees, and by amount of salaries,” stated Mr. Canesi.
“Gaming is no longer sufficiently attractive on its own: it is therefore necessary to complement the Casino’s activities with complementary and synergistic activities, such as the development of tourism and commercial/craft activities, related activities to the lake, of artistic and cultural events and initiatives.”
The new licence will run until December 31, 2026. Financial predictions are pitching first year revenues at €41m, rising to €55m in the second year, €65m in the third year, €74m in the fourth and €80m in the casino’s fifth year of its rebirth by which time it aims to employ 274 people.
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Casino Tampere, Finland’s second casino, opened its doors as scheduled on December 15, the 30th anniversary of Casino Helsinki.
Veikkaus Oy, has opened Finland’s second casino, Casino Tampere, a unique project that has aroused interest both in Finland and across Europe. “What is distinctive about Casino Tampere, as compared to other casinos around the world, is its unique setting, an extraordinary mixture of Finnish spirit and a cosmopolitan casino atmosphere,” described Casino General Manager, Tiina Siltanen.
Both Finnish Casinos, Casino Helsinki and Casino Tampere, are forerunners in the building of a responsible gambling environment in the European casino world. “Offering tools for the self-control of gambling is one of our key measures for the prevention of gambling- induced harm,” explained Ms. Siltanen. “Te concept we make available is unique in the European casino setting.”
Whilst playing at the casinos, players use their Casino ID cards to authenticate themselves and to set personal limits on their gambling. Te limits cover gambling at both Casino Helsinki and Casino Tampere. Casino Tampere will employ approximately 80 croupiers, dealers,
Annemasse casino gets €300,000 tax reduction due to COVID
France
Te municipality of Annemasse in the Haute- Savoie region of France has reduced the tax needed to be paid by the local Partouche- owned casino by almost €300,000.
Te 2020-2021 financial year at the Annemasse casino was strongly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. During the period, between November 2020 and October 2021, the establishment operated by the Partouche group recorded no less than 199 days of closure.
According to the casino, the impact of the closure would amount to € 13m. Tis is the reason why Dominique
Lachenal, assistant to the finances of the municipality, proposed an amendment to the delegation contract binding the municipality of Annemasse to the casino. As the amendment already voted for the 2019- 2020 financial year, it plans to prorate the two financial participations of the casino, calculated on the basis of a fixed price, to the number of actual opening days of the establishment. Te Annemasse casino came 22nd in the ranking of French casinos in 2018-2019, the last year before the health crisis, with a GGR of €323.775m.
and casino customer service representatives.
“Our staff plays a major role in the creation of a good casino experience and a safe gambling environment. Responsibility guides all our actions and is at the very heart of our customer service,” stated Casino Manager, Outi Tikkanen.
Casino Tampere opened to the general public on December 15, 2021 and is open Sun-Tue from 1:00-1:00, and Wed-Sat from 1:00pm to 4:00am.
“A new casino is definitely a significant change to the gaming landscape in Finland,” added Ms. Siltanen. “We have operated with a single casino for three decades and now we launch our second.
“Understandably, we’re very excited to offer a new casinos to our customers. Casino Tampere is part of a new entertainment Arena complex. It is a whole new casino concept as we’re part of the overall services provided by the Arena, which is very modern with lots of entertainment, F&B offerings, and even includes a Lapland-inspired hotel.”
UK
888 has reported ‘strong progress’ towards the completion of purchasing William Hill International. All mandatory antitrust and gaming regulatory clearances received whilst shareholder circular and prospectus are expected to be issued in early 2022, with a shareholder vote to follow. Completion is now expected to occur in Q1 2022, subject to satisfaction of remaining conditions. 888 expects to raise approximately £500m of gross proceeds by issuing new equity via a capital raise, which is currently expected to occur prior to the completion. Completion is also conditional upon approvals by the Financial Conduct Authority and the London Stock Exchange, as well as the completion of a re-organisation of the William Hill group to separate the US and non-US businesses.
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