Further to the award of a concession to operate a Casino given to Eden Leisure last month the group has recently signed a management agreement with Olympic Entertainment Group to operate the largest casino on Malta.
Olympic is the largest provider of gaming services in the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) as well as operating in Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Belarus. They operate 97 sites in 7 countries and are excited to expand into this new territory. Olympic's shares are publically traded on the stock exchanges in Warsaw and Tallinn and currently employ some 2,600 people.
ELG's executive Chairman, Mr. Ian De Cesare stated, "As a group we know our strengths in the hospitality and entertainment sectorand therefore we knew it was important to find a strong operator with a wealth of experience in operating casinos. During the competitive bid process, we negotiated with several of the top European management companies and settled on Olympic as the preferred operator for our Casino. There were several reasons; we found that our companies had a similar ethos in that they provide a focus on customer service, entertainment and the overall experience of the customer. They were clearly highly experienced in the field and had a wealth of experience and they believed in the project to the extent that they offered to invest in the casino with us. These factors were important in demonstrating to government that the experience of Eden's bid was of the highest quality with Olympic being on board.
Eden's new venture,Casino Malta by Olympic, will be the largest casino in Malta with some 2,700 m2 of space and will include all the latest equipment required to create ainternational class casino. The whole project is expected to cost upward of €10 million and will to be open towards the end of this year. The operation is projected to increase the Group's full time employment by some 150-180 people. The current plan includes over 250 slot machines, around 30 casino and poker tables, a sport betting section and a large bar lounge area which will cater for casual visitors, as well as those within, to play. A focus on live entertainment and an exciting overall experience is an important feature to the facilities. This will be Eden's second operation in partnering with quality international operators having only just renewed its management contract with InterContinental Hotels Group to continue to operate the InterContinental Malta for the coming years as well as ELG's new hotel, the Holiday Inn Express.
Armin Karu, Chairman of the Board of Olympic, said that the expansion into Malta is of great significance for the company. "We have been looking for good opportunities to expand to popular holiday destinations for several years now and today we took a large step forward in making our expansion plans come true," Mr. Karu highlighted and explained the importance of a strong cooperation partner. "It is good to enter a new market when you partner up with a local business that is as successful and highly respected as the Eden Leisure Group," Karu commented, adding that being recognized as the best land-based casino operator two years ago at the Global Gaming Awards has definitely added to the reputation and credibility of OEG on an international level.
Along with the Casino, the Eden Leisure Group is investing over €30 million in an extension of two additional floors of luxurious 6 star suites as well as a new 100 room Holiday Inn Express hotel and the investment in the 3,600m2 conference and incentive Arena. Upon completion of these ambitious projects the group will own 627 rooms in total.
Olympic is a full member of the European Casino Association. They were recently awarded the Best Land Based Casino Operator of the Year at the 2013 ICE gaming conference in London and were also voted as the most successful company in Estonia by the largest business daily that had analysed the top 500 Estonian companies. In 2013 the group registered revenues of €135 million and Net Profit of over €26 million.