Closed for €141.8m (£121.7m/$168.3m), the deal saw state-owned banking institution NRW.Bank sell its WestSpiel shares.
Launched in January by the Ministry of the Interior of Nordrhein-Westfalen, under management of professional services company Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG, this followed a privatisation tender.
The agreement essentially gives Gauselmann a 15-year monopoly over land-based gaming in the area, and the operator will be free to open a further two casinos in addition to the four current sites.
Following Gauselmann's July privatisation tender victory and signing of a purchase agreement for WestSpiel, the deal was approved by pertinent competition authorities and allowed to proceed as of yesterday, 1 September.
"We are looking forward having the new staff members join our business. Paul Gauselmann, the board spokesman and company founder, stated together we will make the casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia even more successful.
Managing director of Merkur Spielbanken David Schnabel said: "We prepared for the integration of the casinos into the group of businesses using the time between the signing of the purchase contract and the final approval by the antitrust authorities."
Apart from the organisational and technical elements, the personal introduction of the management to the colleagues in the headquarters in Duisburg and the casino sites took particular attention. Over the next weeks, we will enhance this communication and schedule welcoming activities for every newly hired colleague in our Schloss Benkhausen training facility.
k, Kentucky.
Known as Derby City Gaming Downtown, the new location will be 140 South 4th Street and create 350 construction jobs and 100 permanent employment.
There will be 500 HRMs housed there, an outdoor gaming area, and 200 on-site parking spaces.
Along with a bourbon library and a wine and charcuterie room, the location will have a main-level sports bar.
"CDI is committed to investing in the city of Louisville and today we are particularly excited to announce this new downtown entertainment venue," stated Church Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen.
"Our HRM growth will be a benefit to the Louisville community as a whole and will provide Churchill Downs Racecourse with extra purse money ranging from $10 to $12 million annually."
Projected to open in 2023, work on the facility is scheduled to start by the end of 2021.
Church Downs's Fair Ground Race Course & Slots, together with twelve of its fifteen Off-Track Betting (OTB) locations in Louisiana, have reopened following damage during Hurricane Ida.
While the four remining OTB venues reopened between September 20 and September 26, the Fair Ground course and eight other sites reopened by September 30.
Churchill Down also promised $1 million to the West End Opportunity Partnership, an effort to spur economic growth in Shawnee, Portland, Russell, Chickasaw, Parkland, California, Park Hill, Park Duvalle and Algonquin.
Gerald Neal, Kentucky State Senator, remarked "I commend the leadership at Churchill Downs for taking this meaningful step in support of the West End Opportunity Partnership and for encouraging other local corporate citizens to follow suit."
"We are helping our Commonwealth to become a better place for all Kentuckians by acting to correct the injustices and inequalities in our local communities."
Churchill Downs sold Chicago Bears, an NFL team, its Arlington Racecourse facility for $200 million earlier this week.
