European Gaming Lawyer magazine Spring 2014 | Page 22

Gaming Convergence in Germany
By Matthias Spitz and Danny Engelhardt, German attorneys with MELCHERS law firm

Matthias Spitz

Introduction
“The internet is unknown territory for all of us”.
One may think that this statement dates back to the
1970’s, and that, since then, the internet has become
a vital part of daily life. This statement, however, was
made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in June
2013 on a press conference with President Barack
Obama. It seems to express present-day discomfort of
some with the impact of the internet on society and
economy. In the gaming world, a similar discomfort
of the traditional land-based casino industry with the
proliferation of online gaming can be observed. Some
casino executives in countries with an established
land-based casino sector such as the US or Germany
keep a critical eye on plans to regulate online casino
and poker. Consequently, the gaming world has
traditionally been divided into the land-based sphere
and the online sphere. However, the past years have
seen a number of activities both on the international
level and in Germany indicating the convergence of
these spheres.

Danny Engelhardt

Converging transactions and licensing
In mid-2013, Bally Technologies entered into an
agreement to acquire game equipment supplier
SHFL Entertainment in a deal worth approx. $1.3
billion, thereby adding SHFL Enterainment’s igaming
products to its product portfolio; the combined
companies are estimated to generate $551 million in
EBITDA for the fiscal year 2015, $30 million of the
amount to be generated from cost synergies (iGaming
Business, issue 82, p. 118). In the past years, the trend
of convergence is also noticeable across European
markets. Through its subsidiary Greentube Malta Ltd,
manufacturer Novomatic has obtained online gaming
licences in several European countries, including Italy.
In Germany, Löwen Play, a major operator of landbased gaming halls, was issued a licence for operating
online casino games by the state of SchleswigHolstein. The Gauselmann group, supplier and

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