Merkur Sportwetten increases stake in Belgium’s Betcenter
Gauselmann Group subsidiary Merkur Sportwetten GmbH has grown its presence in the Belgian market after increasing its holding in Betcenter Group NV from 50.1% to 74.9%.
The partial sale, which came in with retroactive effect on 1 January 2020, will mean that Seydi Tekin will remain as chief executive officer of Betcenter in the long term. Meanwhile Carsten Schaudienst will continue to be active in the company as a board member.
Markus Ettlin, Managing Director of Merkur Sportwetten, commented: “Together, we want to increase the already large footprint of Merkur Sportwetten under the Betcenter brand in Belgium. In line with this, we will further extend the omnichannel product offering (physical as well as online) in the coming months.”
The partnership between the duo was initially signed approximately four years ago when Betcenter agreed to use products of Cashpoint Malta, a subsidiary of the Gauselmann Group, in its sports betting shops. In 2018, Merkur Sportwetten purchased a 50.1% share of Betcenter.
The increase in shares will allow Merkur Sportwetten to further expand its activities in Belgium, as well as grow its omnichannel offering. Merkur Sportwetten also confirmed that its sun logo ‘will shine alongside the Betcenter company logo’ as the two make visible changes to their external image.
Tekin added: “In 2018, we decided to sell part of our business in order to be able to further expand our business activities in Belgium and grow more strongly as a company. We found an ideal partner in Merkur Sportwetten, which supports us as a technology partner for system bets as well as financially. The partnership quickly brought benefits and we were able to double our turnover in the past two years.”
Source: SBC News
