Milton Keynes Casino To Reopen Under Merkur Banner
The Casino MK, part of the Xscape leisure centre at Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, has been bought by German-based gambling company Merkur Group.
The group has said it plans to relaunch the casino as it continues to expand globally.
Merkur recently re-entered the US market, while the Milton Keynes site will be the second venue in the UK, after Merkur’s Aberdeen casino launch in 2023.
Merkur MK
The move makes geographical sense as Merkur’s UK headquarters are already located in Milton Keynes.
Chief Operating Officer, Mark Schertle, said: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to bring The Casino MK into the MERKUR family. This venue has played a significant role in the local leisure and entertainment market.
“Our aim is to get the casino open again as quickly and smoothly as possible, and we are, of course, particularly proud to be bringing more jobs to Milton Keynes, which is also the home of our headquarters.”
No timeline has been given for the opening of the venue.
The Casino MK was previously owned by Aspers UK Holdings, but administrators were appointed at the beginning of April as the company went into liquidation.
The venue opened in 2013 as the second-largest super casino to be granted a licence in the UK.
As well as operating more than 220 slot venues, Merkur Group already has a casino in the UK.
Merkur Aberdeen opened in July 2023 with a grand ceremony featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers, attended by local dignitaries and Merkur executives.
Merkur International Expansion
In May this year, Merkur announced it had re-entered the US market. The company acquired Gaming Arts LLC, a Nevada-licensed gambling game company.
Merkur had previously operated casinos in the US but exited the market in the early 2000s. The move was seen as a direct response to the ever-changing regulatory landscape in the company’s home market, Germany.
Chairman of the Management Board of the Merkur Group, Lars Felderhoff, said, at the time of the US announcement: “Business conditions in our home market, Germany, have become increasingly challenging due to tightening regulatory frameworks.
“Nevertheless, together with the entire industry, we remain confident in the long-term prospects of the German gaming market.
"Our re-entry into the North American casino market will significantly accelerate the international growth of the Merkur Group and place it on an even more solid footing.”
Merkur was founded by Paul Gauselmann, a jukebox operator, in the 1950s. The company opened its first gaming venue, in Lower Saxony, in 1974, and started producing its own slot machines in the late 1970s.
With the opening of its first overseas venue, in Amsterdam, Merkur went international in 1983 and continued to expand in the 1990s and 2000s.
It now has an annual turnover of more than €3billion per annum with sports betting, online, slots divisions, as well as its expanding portfolio of retail and new casinos.
