Praesepe plc is a gaming company that is based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The company employs more than 1600 people in over 160+ gaming venues and 24 hour customer support centre. Praesepe’s corporate strategy has been to actively seek out acquisition and consolidation opportunities within the gaming sector across the United Kingdom and Europe that match the companies’ core operations. Praesepe’s core operations include online casino play, bingo venues, and live betting facilities as well as online gaming.
The Praesepe organisation acquired operational rights over a multitude of gambling facilities and became one of Europe’s largest and most diverse gambling organisations. The company operated 147 Cashino adult gaming centres, 9 Beacon Bingo Clubs, 8 seaside family amusement centres as well as the online activities of Beacon Bingo and Cashino.
History of the Praesepe Group
The Praesepe group was founded and led by their Chief Executive Officer Nick Harding. He previously had held senior positions in multiple UK gaming operations such as Bass Leisure and the Rank Group. The establishment of the Praesepe organisation was accomplished with funding from the private equity firm Marwyn Partners, who were the owners of the organisation.
In 2012, Praesepe plc was purchased by the German Gauselmann Group. This is family international casino business and one of the two largest manufacturers of gaming machines in Europe. This was a hugely significant acquisition, and one which involved buying 100% of Marwyn Gaming as the owners of Praesepe plc.
A New, Huge and Progressive Merger
The merger has led to the formation of an entirely new company called Merkur Casino UK. This company is chaired by Ulrich Wuseke, who was previously chief financial officer of the Gauselmann Group. The Praesepe founder and CEO, Nick Harding is also the CEO of the new company.
Merkur Casino UK, have as their aim, to inject the UK casino and gambling industry with a progressive philosophy, renewed energy and methodology in retail entertainment and casino play that is not only unique in the UK, but able to create a format for the rest of the world to build upon.
Together with Blueprint Gaming, which is another UK games and devices subsidiary, Merkur Casino UK has control over the complete range of gambling systems in the UK market, and are able to offer new levels of entertainment, bonuses and prizes that are set to give the entire UK market a strong foundation for heading into the rest of the 21st Century. They believe that this can be achieved by the new group due to the huge financial reserves and resources that the group now has.
Implications for the Industry as a Whole
The acquisition and growth of the UK gambling and gaming industry speaks volumes for the industry as a whole in the face of global recession and reduced government spending. The new organisation firmly believes that their financial power will enable them to transform the sector, create new jobs and develop new income streams not only for the industry but the country and Europe as a whole. The organisation will be specialising in the high volume, low cost casino game field, employs some 10 000 people in the worldwide operational structure and have the resources to fundamentally improve and create new avenues for the entire industry.