One of the biggest coin machine companies in the Netherlands, JvH Gaming, has undergone major management changes which see the company coming back into the hands of the founder.

Jac van Ham, who built the company into a major force in Europe, has taken a major stake in the business, which is based at Tilburg. The company has gone through several ownerships in recent years, notably the ABN AMRO Bank, which held nearly all of the shares up to three years ago, and private equity fund Waterland.

The heavily-increased tax burden of September 2007 on the Dutch coin machine industry brought about a reorganisation and the group has now been re-financed. Jac van Ham, a shareholder in Waterland, is one of a consortium which has now stepped in to take control of the company.

Waterland bought up 20 of the Flash Casino group of arcades in 2006 to add to its own chain of Jack’s Casinos, making a total currently of 46 locations. Two of the original entrepreneurs in the Flash Casinos chain, Raf Terwindt and Han Lampe, have joined with Jac van Ham to take a portion of the JvH equity along with Waterland.

Among the latest changes, Frank Kastelijns has resigned as CEO of the group, but Eric Olders, the CFO, and Annette Kok, the chief legal officer, remain very much part of the scene.

Kok, who is also president of the Dutch trade association, the VAN, and currently also president of the European trade organisation, Euromat, said: “The biggest impact on the company is the arrival of entrepreneurs once more. There is no debt and a great feeling of a fresh start.”