Germany's giant Gauselmann Group has re-entered the UK market by taking a 50 per cent controlling interest in the UK-based games development company Blueprint Entertainment UK.
In a joint statement outlining details of the transaction, released today, Gauselmann said that it had "enjoyed previous success in the UK with Bell-Fruit and Mazooma Games and now sees that the time is right to re-enter the market."
The statement continued with a comment from Michael Gauselmann: "This is an exciting development for the group at a time of great opportunity in the UK. Blueprint Entertainment is a leading digital games developer with a dynamic team containing a great balance of experience and enthusiasm."
The acquisition, he said, had been greatly aided by Glynn Mellor’s Trinity Consultancy.
Darren Breese, Blueprint managing director, said: "Our games team and the technical resources of the Gauselmann Group combine perfectly to deliver an excellent product offering for the UK. Building on our progress over the past two years, we are excited to be teaming up with the Gauselmann Group and to move jointly to the next phase."
He said that the supply of gaming and skill content through strategic partnerships would continue to be central to Blueprint’s plans for 2009 and beyond. Blueprint would also distribute games on Gauselmann Group’s advanced technology, to be showcased on the Merkur Gaming and Crown Direct stands in London.
The Gauselmann Group, headquartered in Espelkamp in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, is a leading company for the AWP and modern leisure entertainment equipment. It was founded in 1957 and has built and sold more than two million gaming devices and operates 500 entertainment centres across Europe. In 2007 fiscal year the group consolidated revenues topped €1.061bn with business volume of €1.28bn. It has over 5,000 employees.
