Tsogo Sun Gaming, which owns casinos including Gold Reef City and Montecasino, has added another asset to its portfolio after the Competition Tribunal approved the merger of the consortium it leads of Emerald Hotel Resort & Casino.
Gillian de Gouveia, the spokesperson for the tribunal, said the watchdog had imposed employment, local procurement and investment-related conditions on the proposed merger.
Some of the conditions placed on the deal include:
- The consortium will not retrench any Emerald employees as a result of the merger for a period of 24 months after the merger approval date;
- If any positions become available within the above-mentioned 24-month period, the new owners will consider employing former Emerald employees who had been retrenched in 2021, provided their skills are similar to or suitable for the relevant positions and provided mutually agreeable employment terms are agreed to;
- For a period of two years from the merger implementation date, the merged business will use reasonable endeavours to continue to procure specific goods and services from local suppliers located in Emerald’s surrounding area, provided the goods and services are available and of sufficient quality; and that it is commercially viable to do so and that the goods and services can be sourced on competitive terms;
- The new owners commit to investing in relation to Emerald’s business operations for five years from the merger’s implementation date; and
- The Tsogo-led consortium also committed that for five years from the merger implementation date, not to relocate Emerald’s casino licence from the current site on which its operations are located to another site within Gauteng.
Tsogo has been on the hunt for a deal to transition away from “survival mode to building an improved, sustainable business for the future”.
In May, the company reported that its income for the year which ended in March jumped to R8.9-billion from R5.3-billion, while operating profit shot up to R2.7-billion from R977-million.
The Tsogo-Emerald tie-up will see Tsogo Sun Gaming controlling four out of seven casino licences in Gauteng.
The company already holds the licences for Montecasino, Gold Reef and Silver Star casinos. Tsogo also has 23 Galaxy Bingo sites in six provinces around the country and its VSlots are open in all nine provinces too. Emerald Resort first opened its doors in 1997.
According to the National Gambling Board, the casino industry is by far the largest and most prominent component of the South African gambling industry. The industry comprises seven management companies, namely Sun International, Tsogo, Peermont Global, London Clubs International, Northern Cape Casino Consultants, Billion Group and African Pioneer Gaming.
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