Merkur Agrees €6.19 Offer For Société Française De Casinos

Merkur is preparing to take control of Société Française de Casinos through a deal for parent company Casigrangi, adding seven regional casinos in France and setting up a mandatory offer for the remaining SFC shares.

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Good to Know

• Merkur plans to buy 95% of Casigrangi, with DOFA retaining 5%.
• Casigrangi owns about 81.2% of Société Française de Casinos.
• Merkur intends to offer €6.19 per SFC share and may delist the company after completion.

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Merkur Targets Full Control Of SFC

Merkur Spielbanken Beteiligungs GmbH signed a put option agreement with GPG Groupe Philippe Ginestet and DOFA on 27 August 2026.

The agreement gives Merkur the right to acquire 95% of Casigrangi, the holding company behind Le Stelsia. DOFA will keep the remaining 5%, with future put and call options covering that stake.

Casigrangi operates seven small and mid sized casinos across France, including locations in Megève, Granville and Mimizan. Through Société Française de Casinos, it also controls casinos in Gruissan, Port-la-Nouvelle, Collioure and Châtel-Guyon.

The deal therefore gives Merkur an immediate land based casino network in one of the largest regulated gambling markets in Europe.

€6.19 Offer Could Lead To Delisting

Casigrangi owns 4,135,434 SFC shares, equal to about 81.21% of capital and voting rights. Merkur has valued that interest at an effective €6.19 per SFC share.

Indirect control of SFC will trigger a mandatory simplified tender offer for shares held by minority investors. Merkur plans to use the same €6.19 price.

If ownership reaches the required threshold, Merkur also intends to launch a squeeze out and remove SFC from Euronext Paris.

That structure makes the SFC listing potentially short lived after the transaction closes.

French approval remains central to the deal. The Autorité des Marchés Financiers must review the tender offer, while the French Interior Ministry must approve the ownership change under gambling rules.

Merkur expects the Casigrangi transaction to close in Q1 2027 after employee consultation procedures and regulatory approvals. The SFC tender offer is then planned for the first half of 2027.

France Casino M&A Remains Active

The transaction comes during another busy period for French land based casino ownership.

Banijay Gaming recently agreed to acquire JOA and its network of 33 regional casinos, adding another large transaction to the French casino sector.

Merkur is taking a smaller route, but the Casigrangi purchase gives the German gaming group direct access to a portfolio that combines casinos with hotels, restaurants and entertainment operations.

SFC expects around €22.5 million in gross gaming revenue for the 2025 and 2026 financial year, alongside projected net gaming revenue of €13.3 million.

The French deal also follows recent expansion elsewhere at Merkur. The group agreed to acquire White Hat Studios and previously completed the purchase of Nevada licensed supplier Gaming Arts, adding more exposure to the US gaming market.

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