Novomatic gets out
Why Tipico is buying the Admiral betting chain
The cards are now being reshuffled in the domestic betting business: the Gumpoldskirchen-based gambling giant Novomatic is selling its betting chain Admiral with 200 locations to the German Tipico Group. The deal was already on the cards.
Years ago, Johann Graf, owner of Novomatic and Admiral, complained that his business in Austria was hardly significant in terms of turnover, but caused him the most trouble and cost him the most in taxes. At the time, there were investigations into the appointment of a board member at Casinos Austria, of which Novomatic was a co-owner for several years. The allegations were of collusion with the government.
"Found a reliable partner in Tipico"
The opportunity has now arisen for a partial withdrawal from Austria. Novomatic is selling the domestic locations of Admiral, which was founded in 1991, to Tipico. "We want to focus on international growth markets and continue our global expansion. In Tipico, we have found a highly professional and reliable partner," said Novomatic CEO Stefan Krenn, explaining the deal. The deal involves around 200 branches with 1500 employees. At 110 of these, the company operates sports bars with gastronomy, while there are also gaming machines at 150 locations, which Admiral is allowed to operate on the basis of licenses from individual federal states. Admiral is the clear market leader in Austria and is also known as a sponsor of the Bundesliga. The contract has been signed, but approval from the authorities is still pending.
These are also necessary, as Tipico is number one in sports betting in Germany with a market share of around 50 percent. The company operates around 1,300 betting stores there and in Germany. Tipico offers games of chance via a license from Malta. The group, which has been owned by the investment fund CVC for several years, operates in a total of seven countries. Tipico CEO Axel Hefer is delighted with the coup, saying that the company now wants to expand its leading role in German-speaking countries and strengthen its position in Austria. It is still unclear whether all Admiral branches and the name will remain.
The world's leading developer of gaming machines
For Novomatic, the exit is not such a big deal. The group, based in Gumpoldskirchen, Lower Austria, is the world's leading developer of gaming machines and gaming software for 120 countries and operates 2,200 gaming facilities worldwide with 25,000 employees. Turnover already reached 3.2 billion euros in 2023. Admiral contributed only a fraction of this. The still media-shy owner Johann Graf will get over it anyway, as he has long been one of the wealthiest Austrians with an estimated 5.7 billion euros in assets.
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