Path cleared to privatise Westspiel casinos

The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has approved a change in the law to allow the privatisation of state-owned Westspiel casinos.

Germany.- The state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalian has cleared the way to privatise state-owned Westspiel’s four casinos.

Members voted to change the state’s law that allows only publicly-owned casinos to operate. Westspiel will sell shares that are currently owned by state bank NRW.

Westspiel’s four casinos in Duisburg, Dortmund, Aachen and Bad Oeynhausen are now likely to be sold as a package to one investor under a single licence.

The licence will be given for up to six casinos, allowing the possibility for the winning buyer to open two new venues. 

The state plans to begin a Europe-wide tender this summer to award the 15-year licence to a private investor. The Gauselmann Group, which owns ten casinos in Germany, has already confirmed it may be interested.

The privatisation of the four casinos is controversial, with opposition parties voting against the move. The Social Democrats called for the sale to be abandoned and criticised the haste in pushing the legislation through. 

Green leader Monika Düker argued that the move created insecurity for Westspiel’s 1,000 employees, could lower player protection and risked losing state funds through the casino levy.

Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said that the future license holder must meet strict requirements for player protection and will be closely regulated. 

The Westspiel Group generated €107million in gross gaming revenue in 2018 and paid more than €50million through the casino levy.

Gauselmann Group spokesman Mario Hoffmeister told local press the group would bid for the casinos if the conditions were right.

Meanwhile, online casinos in Germany have reportedly lost the ability to take credit card payments from Visa.