What happened to the 7 Ceasars EMEA London casinos? Just days after 3 casinos sales in Africa, London casinos could change ownership. (Photo by Eva Dang on Unsplash)
Contrary to previous reports, Caesars EMEA UK casino may end up changing ownership. The biggest news in the gambling world for a while came less than a week ago, as Caesars Entertainment sold its EMEA division to Silver Point Capital which has already sold off 2 land-based establishments in Egypt and sold its Emerald Resort and Casino in South Africa establishment to local operators. The understanding was that Silver Point Capital may hold on to its UK establishments to which it gained 7 casinos with 3 in London.
Since then, Caesars Entertainment EMEA, which is under the control of Silver Point Capital, made it clear that it could sell their UK assets if the offer was right are on the verge of making a sale. It turns out that business powerhouse, Anthony Novac, looks to be the favourite to purchase all 7 locations in the United Kingdom. Anthony Novac is well known for being the owner of Kensington’s Palacegate Casino; one of the finest casinos in the UK and highly regarded throughout the world. Palacegate was formerly known as Maxims when it was sold by Genting in March 2019. Novac has seen an opportunity to become dominant in the UK market, as he and Coastbright Limited, look to purchase all of Caesars Entertainment EMEA remaining UK locations.
According to inside sources, Novac feels that he, together with his company, can benefit greatly from the assets outside of London in particular. Should the sale go through, they would look to retain some of the London casinos, but not necessarily all of them, with reports suggesting that Playboy Club would almost certainly be sold.
On completion of the deal, Novac’s company would be the third-biggest casino operator in the United Kingdom. The news of a potential deal has come somewhat as a surprise to a lot of those involved in the industry, as the casino market in the UK has had a difficult time in recent years, due mainly to the growth of online gambling. 18-months of a Covid-19 pandemic has further dented the ground-based operations, and there’s no guarantee in the future; the news of a deal came as a shock.
There is no doubt now that the entire sector will have a close eye on matters, waiting for further updates on any news of sale completion. Going forward, Novac intends on making a few changes that will transform the fortunes of the past few years. The US casino giant, Caesars Entertainment, has let it be known for a while that they intend to focus on their US locations, and so have been looking to sell their overseas locations. Caesars is a very traditional company and will want to concentrate on their home turf, especially since the impact of Covid-19. If and when Novac and Coastbright complete the purchase of the UK assets, it will be interesting to see what developments will occur after that.
If the rumours are true that Novac will look to offload some of the London locations, then attention will turn to – who will buy them? Early predictions are that Asian suitors will be lining up to get their hands on a prestigious London property.
Leave A Comment