Co-operation in South Africa

Espelkamp/Cape Town. Merkur Gaming, a subsidiary of the Eastern Westphalian Gauselmann Group – Germany’s leading producer of amusement machines with and without stakes and prizes – has formed a joint venture under the name ‘Grand Merkur’ together with the publicly listed Grand Parade Investments Limited (GPI) for the South African market. GPI – with headquarters in Cape Town – is successfully active in the tourist, leisure and entertainment industry. The founding stone for future joint business activities in the amusement machine industry in South Africa has been laid with this co-operation of the two successful partners.

The business activities of ‘Grand Merkur’ that is located in Cape Town will encompass the production and sales of entertainment products for the South African market such as amusement machines with and without stakes and prizes, sports betting terminals and video lottery terminals (VLTs). Furthermore, a training centre for staff further training and education purposes as well as an in-house research and development department – that will develop country-specific gaming software and hardware – is planned.

“The market in South Africa offers great potential for us. Although the amusement machine industry accounts for about 4.3 billion euros of the South African gross domestic product, there has been until now no local manufacturer in this industrial sector. The machines are mainly imported from Europe and USA”, explained Thomas Niehenke, COO of the Gauselmann Group, at the press conference in Cape Town on the occasion of the company foundation in front of numerous media representatives. “The incorporation of these two companies enables a promising pooling of core competencies. The expertise and quality of the Gauselmann products together with the GPI’s experience in the South African leisure and entertainment industry are guarantors of success for the future joint business activities. We are certain of filling a significant market niche with the joint venture. In addition to this, we see strong business growth potential in the South African market in the amusement machine sector. Likewise, South Africa is an ideal country to reach out and serve further markets in Africa”, expanded Niehenke.

Quelle: Gauselmann AG