Gauselmann Group
| Gauselmann Group | |
|---|---|
| legal form | various |
| Seat | Espelkamp |
| management |
Paul Gauselmann ( CEO )
Armin Gauselmann (Deputy Chairman of the Board) Manfred Stoffers (Head of Marketing - Communication and Politics) Dr. Werner Schroers (Chief Technology Officer) Jürgen Stühmeyer (Board Member Merkur Sales) Dieter Kuhlmann (Board Member Gaming Operations) Lars Felderhoff (Chief Financial Officer) |
| Number of employees | 13,846, thereof 7,367 in Germany (2019) |
| sales | 2.575 billion euros (2019) |
| Branch | Slot machines , service concepts , sports betting , money processing systems, game libraries, casinos, online gaming, financial services |
| Website | www.gauselmann.de |
The Gauselmann Group is a family-run, internationally operating group of companies in the machine industry that was founded in 1957 by Paul Gauselmann . The company, based in Espelkamp and Lübbecke ( Minden-Lübbecke district ), develops, produces and sells slot machines with and without the possibility of winning as well as money management systems, operates a chain of amusement arcades and is also active in the areas of sports betting , online gaming , financial services and casinos .
Companies
The group of companies has been a family foundation of the former Gauselmann family since 2016 . Paul Gauselmann, born in 1934, is the CEO of the stock corporation and spokesman for the group .
The main operating companies of the Gauselmann Group are:
- Gauselmann AG
- Gebrüder Gauselmann GmbH
- adp Gauselmann GmbH - Development, production & sales of gaming machines and amusement machines
- adp merkur service
- Gauselmann wholesale
- CASINO MERKUR-SPIELOTHEK GmbH - Operation of gaming facilities in Germany
- CASINO MERKUR International GmbH - Operation of arcades and casinos in Europe
- Merkur Freizeit Leasing GmbH
- Merkur Immobilien und Beteiligungs GmbH
- BEIT GmbH - IT service provider
- GeWeTe currency exchange and safety engineering GmbH & Co. KG - money changers and automatic pay
- HESS Cash Systems GmbH & Co. KG - Development, production & sales of banking & payment systems as well as cash technology for casinos
- Merkur Interactive GmbH - sports betting , internet-based games and competitions
- Schneider Automaten GmbH
- Cashpoint Agency & IT-Service GmbH
- XTiP Sportwetten Vertrieb GmbH
- Merkur Interactive Services
- edict eGaming GmbH - Online Gaming
- Kaiser Spiele GmbH
- MEGA Spielgeräte Entwicklungs- und Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co KG
- Blueprint Gaming Ltd.
- Merkur Dosniha SL
- Merkur Gaming India Pvt. Ltd.
- Lucky Nugget Gaming Pvt. Ltd.
- Praesepe Group
- Regal Gaming and Leisure
- Merkur Spielbanken Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH & Co. KG
- Betcom Ltd.
- Euro Payment Group GmbH
The total business volume of the various corporate divisions in the 2016 financial year was 2.527 billion euros (2015: 2.213 billion euros) with external sales of 1.7 billion euros. At the end of the 2016 financial year, the Gauselmann Group had 10,438 employees worldwide (2015: 9,240), including 197 apprentices and trainees (2015: 187).
Controversy
Criminal investigation
From August 2004 to February 2007, the Augsburg public prosecutor and later the Bielefeld public prosecutor investigated five companies in the Gauselmann Group on suspicion of manipulating gaming machines for unequal chances of winning. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt presented until January 7, 2007 determined subsequent structural changes to the subject of the inquiry Gauselmann machines, but the player protection would not be affected. After being suspended for a fine, the Attorney General resumed the investigation in July 2007. An external control of profit payments has not been proven. On March 26, 2009, the investigation was closed.
In February 2011, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported in two articles that managers of the Gauselmann Group had donated more than one million euros to the Union , SPD , FDP and Greens since 1990 . Paul Gauselmann has regularly asked his managers to support MPs financially in order to create understanding for the slot machine industry. That is why up to 20 of his executives each year participated with four-digit donation checks, which the CEO then sent to members of parliament. In years with federal elections, according to Paul Gauselmann, up to 70,000 euros, in other years up to 50,000 euros. Per person, the amounts were below the limit of 3,300 euros that are tax-deductible annually, which is why no publication in the parties' reports was necessary. The Bielefeld public prosecutor's office closed the investigation against Gauselmann in April 2011.
In September 2012, the Gauselmann Group was accused of having acquired shares in two subsidiaries of the FDP at excessive prices and thus having made an undeclared party donation. In a response from the company, the purchase price of EUR 1.3 million was described as appropriate in relation to the profit from the investments. The Bundestag administration declared after an examination of the process that the suspicion of a hidden donation payment was unfounded.
In April 2014, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported that two months earlier a group of criminals took advantage of a vulnerability in the software of the Merkur slot machines in a coordinated action. According to industry insiders, the damage caused amounted to ten million euros.
Paradise Papers
Based on research in the Paradise Papers , the allegation was made in 2017 that a subsidiary on the Isle of Man belonging to the Gauselmann Group had offered licenses for online casinos , the use of which is illegal in Germany. Allegations of obfuscation for the purpose of reducing taxes were also raised. Both allegations were rejected by the Gauselmann Group.
Attitude to gambling addiction
In the discussion group Menschen bei Maischberger , managing director Paul Gauselmann explained that it is of no use for gambling addicts to be banned from participation in casinos. Rather, they would then switch to the Internet. At the opening of a trade fair, Gauselmann said: There is just as much shooting in all children's rooms as at our machines .
literature
- Barbara Dickmann : The game maker: Paul Gauselmann, the biography; told by Barbara Dickmann , Econ, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-430-20246-6
Web links
- Gauselmann Group
- German Automata Museum - Gauselmann Collection
- To the Gauselmann Group on Lobbypedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual Report 2019 of the Gauselmann Group
- ↑ Gauselmann / About Us / Figures & Facts ; accessed on July 19, 2020
- ↑ http://www.nw.de/nachrichten/wirtschaft/20658095_Paul-Gauselmann-bleibt-an-der-Spitze.html
- ↑ a b Brief portrait 2017 of the Gauselmann Group
- ↑ Annual report 2016 of the Gauselmann Group
- ↑ Jörg Schmitt (Der Spiegel, December 13, 2004): Gambling: Lost credibility?
- ↑ Michael Fröhlingsdorf, Gunther Latsch: Secret in the gold cup. Der Spiegel 7/2007, February 12, 2007.
- ↑ German Bundestag Printed Matter 16/5687, 16th legislative period, June 15, 2007: Answer of the Federal Government to the request of the deputies Dr. Harald Terpe, Birgitt Bender, Elisabeth Scharfenberg, other MPs and the Alliance 90 / THE GREENS parliamentary group: Guaranteeing player protection for gaming machines (PDF p. 2)
- ↑ Der Spiegel, July 13, 2007: Gambling: Instructions from the General
- ↑ Michael Fröhlingsdorf (Der Spiegel, January 19, 2009): Gambling: Trained chimpanzees
- ↑ Mindener Tageblatt, April 22, 2009: Espelkamp: Investigations against Gauselmann stopped
- ^ H. Leyendecker, K. Ott, N. Richter: Dubious party donations from the gambling company , Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 18, 2011.
- ↑ H. Leyendecker: Clever, very clever! Too clever? , sueddeutsche.de, February 19, 2011
- ↑ Gaming hall operator Gauselmann relieved of suspected fraud , zeit.de, April 13, 2011
- ^ ARD: Die Einflüsterer ( Memento from August 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Mon, September 10, 2012, 9:45 p.m.
- ↑ Gauselmann on party donations: We have nothing to hide , Presseportal.de, September 24, 2012, 4:08 pm
- ↑ German Bundestag, press release of December 6, 2012: Bundestag administration: Suspicion of a hidden donation payment to the FDP unfounded ( memento of December 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Michael Fröhlingsdorf: Gambling: When roulette milked , Der Spiegel, issue 16, April 14, 2014, p. 47 ( online )
- ↑ Gauselmann: Keep us to the law , Osnabrücker Zeitung, November 6, 2017
- ^ Statement by the Gauselmann Group on the "Paradise Papers" , November 6, 2017
- ^ Welt.de report on Gauselmann
- ^ Opening speech by Gauselmann ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 24.8 " N , 8 ° 37 ′ 51.6" E