Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) announced earlier today that its Latvia-based subsidiary Olympic Casino Latvia SIA has completed the purchase Latvian gambling operator SIA Garkalns. The transaction had already been approved by the Latvian Competition Council.
The announced acquisition comes as part of OEG’s strategy to further expand its presence and increase its market share in Latvia. With the transaction being completed, OEG and its local subsidiary now own a total of 57 casinos in the country.
Prior to being acquired by Olympic Casino Latvia, SIA Garkalns managed 20 slots casinos in Latvia. Of those, ten were located in the country’s capital Riga and the other ten were in regional cities. All gambling venues featured a total of 432 slot machines. In 2014, the Latvian gambling operator reported consolidated revenue of over €6 million and as many as 245 employees worked at its properties across the country.
SIA Garkalns’ share capital nominal value currently amounts to more than €1.9 million. However, both OEG and the purchased company decided not to disclose the transaction’s price. OEG noted that the acquired casinos will now have to be brought into compliance with their new owner’s operations and quality standards. This is expected to happen over the span of one calendar year. The casinos will afterwards be rebranded as Olympic Casino.
Prior to buying SIA Garkalns and its casinos, Olympic Casino Latvia ran 37 gambling venues in the country. Those featured a total of 19 gaming tables and 1,068 slot machines. Last year, OEG’s Latvia-based subsidiary generated gaming revenue of about €48 million. As many as 679 people were employed at the operator’s casinos.
The announcement about the completion of the Latvia transaction comes a day after OEG announced that its Estonian subsidiary Olympic Casino Eesti AS would buy local casino company AS MC Kasiinod. The price of the purchase was not disclosed. Now, OEG is to operate 24 casinos in Estonia.
Prior to buying MC Kasiinod, OEG managed 20 casinos across the country with a total of 817 slot machines and 20 table games. It has added 4 new slots casinos with 160 gaming devices to its existing properties. The Estonia-headquartered gambling operator also runs venues in Lithuania, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Belarus.
