As of April 1, Stefan Bruns will head up the sports betting and online gaming business segment as a new member of the Gauselmann Group management board.

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The tasks of the newly created position include strengthening the land-based and online sports betting offering, strategic expansion of virtual slot gaming and advancing the internationalisation of these two areas of activity.

“I am delighted to welcome Stefan Bruns, who has held management positions in the company for nine years, as a new member of the management board," said Paul Gauselmann, company founder and chairman.

"His experience and expertise are excellent prerequisites for successfully managing the newly created sports betting and online gaming business segment.

“Sports betting and online gaming are promising prospective markets in which Mr Bruns will further grow and strengthen our business activities. I wish him a lucky hand and every success in carrying out his important and responsible tasks.”

Bruns started his career with the Gauselmann Group in 2014. After holding various management positions at the adp Merkur subsidiary, he was appointed to the management of the fellow subsidiary Merkur Casino in 2017.

This position came with responsibility for all of Merkur Casino’s international activities, including the operation of more than 450 gaming arcades as well as online and live game casinos in other European countries with over 4,800 employees.

In future, this task will fall to Irina Ruf, who has held the position of executive operations director international at Merkur Casino for the past several years.

“I would like to express my thanks for the trust placed in me and I look forward to tackling the challenging tasks that lie ahead,” said Bruns.

“The focus will be on the strategic expansion of the online and land- based sports betting offerings as well as on consolidating all worldwide online gaming activities.

"Our goal is to create sustainable structures and products in order to consistently expand our market shares in the sports betting and online gaming markets and to successfully position the Merkur brand for the long term.”