InterGaming catches up with Jens Halle as embarks on a new career journey.
JENS Halle made his exhibition debut as a senior executive at the Gauselmann Group as the ICE Totally Gaming trade show opened its doors at the ExCeL venue in London in early February.
Named as the new CEO of Merkur Gaming, Halle was a few yards from the giant booth of his former company and major rival for Gauselmann, Novomatic, but he had nothing but praise for his former company.
“I had a wonderful 16 years at Novomatic,” he said, “and I learned a great deal from the company and from Professor Graf. But you get to a stage in life where you need fresh challenges.”
At Gauselmann Group he acknowledged the strong international thrust from the company and pledged to drive it up to the next level.
“As soon as I announced that I was to resign from Novomatic, I had a number of calls from different companies. Among them was my old friend Michael Gauselmann and I was subsequently to meet with their board in Germany.
“But I made it clear to anyone who might have considered me joining them that I was firmly domiciled in Florida now with my family. Any new position had to be based there.”
That fits well with the Gauselmann Group, as he said it was a medium-term objective to penetrate the North American casino market. “It is a long haul, as I know from my experience with Novomatic. We have to seek licences in each individual state, but I am quite prepared to go through that again to see the excellent quality equipment turned out by the Gauselmann factory in Germany win a place on the floor of American casinos.”
He was able to announce an immediate success, with a plan to site-test a number of Gauselmann-designed casino slots on the floor of the casino run by the Seminole Indian tribe in his new home state of Florida. It would be the first of many introductions for Gauselmann machines in American states. “That is a medium-term objective, however. First of all the plan is to broaden the company’s base in Europe and Africa.”
Read the full article in the March issue of InterGaming
