Eden Leisure has signed a management agreement with Olympic Casino to operate the largest casino in Malta
Eden was granted a concession to operate a casino last month.
Olympic is the largest provider of gaming services in the Baltics as well as operating in Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Belarus. It operates 97 sites in seven countries
Eden executive chairman Ian De Cesare said it was important to find a strong operator with a wealth of experience in operating casinos.
"During the competitive bid process, we negotiated with several of the top European management companies and settled on Olympic as the preferred operator for our Casino. There were several reasons; we found that our companies had a similar ethos in that they provide a focus on customer service, entertainment and the overall experience of the customer. They were clearly highly experienced in the field and had a wealth of experience and they believed in the project to the extent that they offered to invest in the casino with us. These factors were important in demonstrating to Government that the experience of Eden’s bid was of the highest quality with Olympic being on board.
Eden’s new venture, Casino Malta by Olympic, will be the largest casino in Malta with some 2,700 square metres of space and will include all the latest equipment required to create a international class casino.
The project is expected to some €10 million and will to be open towards the end of this year.
The operation is projected to increase the Eden Leisure Group’s full time employment by some 150-180 people.
The casino will have more than 250 slot machines, around 30 casino and poker tables, a sport betting section and a large bar lounge area which will cater for casual visitors, as well as those within, to play.
Armin Karu, Chairman of the Board of Olympic, said that the expansion into Malta was of great significance for the company. “We have been looking for good opportunities to expand to popular holiday destinations for several years now and today we took a large step forward in making our expansion plans come true,” Mr Karu said.
Along with the Casino, the Eden Leisure Group is investing over €30 million in an extension of two additional floors of luxurious 6 star suites to the InterContinental hotel as well as a new 100 room Holiday Inn Express hotel. It is also upgrading the conference arena.