Mayor of Salou pushes for BCN World
Pere Granados urged the government of the autonomous community of Catalonia to be ‘proactive’ regarding the construction of the casino.
Te Hard Rock Entertainment World complex would include two hotels with over a thousand rooms andone of the largest casinos in Europe with 1,200 slot machines.
SPAIN CASINO NEWS
Te mayor of the municipality of Salou, Pere Granados, has urged the government of Catalonia to support the construction of the BCN World casino complex.
Granados urged the government of the autonomous community of Catalonia to be “proactive” regarding the construction of the casino which would be part of the Hard Rock Barcelona World. Te project has been on the table now for over ten years.
During the opening of a congress of tourist municipalities held in Salou, Granados said that the Hard Rock project has always had his “firmest support” and that he and the members of his administration want it to happen soon.
“For this reason, I want to make a call to the public administrations in general and to the Government of the Generalitat so that they are also proactive in their defence, because it will be a new boost, as Port Aventura was, for the local and territorial economy.”
Likewise, the mayor of Salou pointed out that the Hard Rock project would mean a
“contribution of wealth and employment” and be a step towards the economy not depending solely on seasonal tourists. “We also want economic and above all social sustainability, with labour contracts not only seasonally, but throughout the year,” he said.
In October, the mayor of Vila-Seca Pere Segura stated that while the Hard Rock Entertainment complex in Vila-Seca and Salou was given an unfavourable report from the Department of Climate Action it was by no means the end of the road for the large scale resort and casino in Catalonia. For years activist groups opposed to the new leisure zone on Catalonia’s southern coast have demanded that the licence for the Hard Rock Entertainment World be revoked. If it goes ahead the casino will be called Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tarragona, España.
Te Hard Rock Entertainment World complex would include two hotels with over a thousand rooms, a large shopping area, along with entertainment facilities, and the casino. Te casino could have as many as 1,200 slot machines and 100 table games making it one of the largest casinos in Europe.
Malta GiG acquires AskGamblers brand in €45m deal
Gaming Innovation Group has signed an agreement to acquire the casino affiliate websites Askgamblers, Johnslots, Newcasinos and several smaller domains from Catena Media.
Te total consideration is €45m, of which €20m will be paid in cash on closing, €10m twelve months after closing and the €15m balance 24 months after closing. Closing is expected in Q1 2023.
Askgamblers is a website source in the iGaming industry with strong brand recognition by users.
Johnslots.com and
Newcasinos.com build on GiG Media’s strategy to diversify its business.
Richard Brown, CEO of Gaming Innovation Group, commented: “GiG is extremely excited to take over the premium AskGamblers brand from Catena.
“Combining the assets with GiG’s
media technology and operational capabilities, provides us with a great opportunity to expand our global reach and to deliver a path for the brand to continue with its strong evolution.
“Te expansion of our strategic position in conjunction with the deal structure gives the group another great blueprint for growth. We look forward to integrating the assets and current staff into Gaming Innovation Group.”
Te acquired websites generated revenue of €12.9m in the first nine months of 2022 with an EBITDA of €8.4m. GiG expects to have an EBITDA margin between 60-70 per cent from the assets going forward. Te assets are expected to generate around 53.000 FTDs in 2022.
Te acquired websites are strong in markets that currently are non- core markets for GiG Media, expanding the company’s current geographical reach.
France
Groupe Partouche’s fourth quarter gaming revenue (GGR) increased by 20.3 per cent to €178.8m and 8.3 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
In total, annual turnover for 2022 is €388.8m, up 52 per cent compared to 2021.
In France, GGR increased by 21.3 per cent over one year to €162.3m, driven by all forms of games: with slots up 18.1 per cent, table games up 44.4 per cent and electronic games up 28.1 per cent.
Abroad, GGR is up 1.4 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, at €16.5m, with the growth of Swiss online games, up 89.2 per cent, mitigating the scope effects.
On a like-for-like basis, GGR abroad increased by 14.9 per cent compared to 2019.
FINLAND - The European Casino Association, during its recent Board Meeting held in Finland on December 15, 2022, agreed the appointment of Tiina Siltanen as Vice Chair. Held in conjunction with the first anniversary of the Veikkaus Casino Tampere, the Board of the ECA gathered to discuss plans for 2023; including the preparation and organisation of the ECA Annual General Assembly, which will be held during ICE London in February.
“I have been on the ECA Board for two years. Still, there are topics of special importance, particularly concerning the ECA’s international events, human resource issues focused upon diversity and inclusion, and the reputation of the licensed casino sector to which I would like to devote attention in my new role," Tiina Siltanen commented.
LITHUANIA – BetConstruct has begun the second private sales phase of Fastex’s native token, Fasttoken, and is now open for all partners. The public sale will start on January 18 and will be available to everyone. Over 70 iGaming suppliers have agreed to include Fasttoken as a supported currency in their ecosystem, including the most recently announced, BGaming. Fasttoken has successfully passed two audits from separate third- party auditors: Hexens and CertiK. Fastex is a fully regulated virtual currency exchange and depository virtual currency wallet.
MALTA – Aggregator and content provider Pariplay has added Slotmill to its roster of Ignite partners, offering the casino games provider access to all of the regulated markets Pariplay is present in and the platform’s global distribution network. In addition, the studio can create games through Pariplay’s turnkey development framework, enabling rapid speed to market, while launches will be supported by a suite of engagement solutions.
Slotmill is the latest company to join the Ignite programme, as Pariplay looks to expand the initiative which boasts a number of boutique studios. Ignite supports any coding language and allows for content to be built much quicker and with substantially lower costs, empowering game developers to reach global markets.
SWEDEN – Lady Luck Games has signed an agreement with Relax Gaming to join the company’s distribution programme. As part of Powered By Relax, a number of Lady Luck games will be made available to operators via Relax Gaming’s distribution network.
These titles include The Treasures of Tizoc, Valholl Wild Hammers and Madame Clues, as well as branded games such as Beetle Bailey developed by the company in partnership with King Features.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P15
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