Rank Group completes sale of Belgium’s Casino Blankenberge to Kindred

Under the agreement, Kindred paid £25m (€29.3m/$34.5m) in cash to acquire the business on a debt-free basis.

Rank said proceeds from the sale support its liquidity and future initiatives as part of its Transformation 2.0 programme.

The agreement, which was announced in October last year, set out that Kindred would acquire 100% of shares in Blankenberge Casino-Kursaal (Blancas), the Rank subsidiary that operates the casino.

Kindred has worked with Blancas since 2012, with the country’s online gambling regulations requiring igaming operators to have a land-based partner to offer online casino, live dealer games and poker.

Casino Blankenberge is one of nine land-based facilities operating in Belgium, and had been owned by Rank since 1998.

The casino’s concession agreement with the city of Blankenberge was renewed in 2018, with a new 15-year operating licence having come into effect in January this year.

The sale confirms Rank’s exit from the Belgian casino market, having shut down operations in the municipality of Middlekerke in 2017.