Gaming1 Takes Full Control of Long-Time Belgian Partner Carousel
A fourteen-year working relationship has turned into full ownership, as Belgian operator Gaming1 has bought out Carousel Group, the online casino brand it has supplied with technology and content since 2012. The deal hands Gaming1 a licence, a customer base and a gaming hall in one move, and slots neatly into a run of similar buyouts the group has made over the past year.
What’s been released
Gaming1 has purchased 100% of the shares in Pac-Man NV, the company behind Carousel Group, for an undisclosed amount, following a long-running partnership between Liège-based Gaming1 and Carousel Group dating back to 2012.
The transaction was confirmed publicly by
Gaming1’s head of M&A Renaud Thys, revealing Gaming1 has acquired 100 per cent of the shares in Pac-Man
, the entity behind the operator. Carousel itself was previously held by Belgian operator 711 Group, and
the offloading of Carousel Group comes amid 711 embarking on its own international push, with the group already active in Belgium and building up a foothold in international iGaming hub Malta.
What’s changed
On the operational side, the changeover looks designed to be as low-key as possible.
Gaming1 added that the transaction does not see the transfer of any employees between the companies’ respective teams, and so it expects “smooth and effective integration”, a process which will begin imminently.
Separately,
Pac-Man NV’s activities will be integrated into Gaming1 with immediate effect
, giving Gaming1 direct control of Carousel’s licence and its existing digital portfolio rather than having to build a competing product from scratch.
For Gaming1, the appeal is straightforward:
once completed, the acquisition will see Gaming1 gain Pac-Man NV’s licence and digital operations in Belgium, significantly expanding its reach in the online casino market in the country, though this comes at a time of difficult regulatory adjustments in the nation.
Chief operating officer Sylvain Boniver framed the move in terms of scale and player experience, saying the deal will
“further strengthen our digital presence in Belgium and enhance the fun and engaging entertainment experience we offer our players.”
Where it fits
This isn’t Gaming1’s first move of this kind.
The deal follows Gaming1 launching its new online-only brand Casino1 in summer 2025, and it follows Gaming1 purchasing its remaining 50% share of Circus.nl in December 2025 from Dutch casino operator Gran Casino, a similar deal involving online assets and an existing relationship.
Taken together, the pattern points to a group consolidating stakes in partners it already knows well rather than chasing entirely new territory. For context on where Carousel sits in the pecking order,
Gaming1 operates 777, the fifth largest online casino brand in Belgium according to Blask, and the acquisition significantly expands the group’s foothold in the online casino space.
None of this changes what UK players see on their own sites directly, since Carousel and Gaming1’s operations sit squarely within the regulated Belgian market rather than the UK-licensed one. But for anyone tracking how European operators are shaping up ahead of further regulatory shifts on the continent, it’s a useful marker of how consolidation is playing out among mid-sized casino groups, and worth watching for any knock-on effects on shared content and platform partners that also serve UK-facing brands.
Sources
- SBC News – Gaming1 extends Belgium casino reach with Carousel Group deal
- NEXT.io – Gaming1 acquires Carousel in latest digital play
- InterGame Online – Gaming1 acquires Belgian igaming operator Carousel
- EEGaming – Gaming1 Acquires Pac-Man NV (Carousel)
- TheGamblest – Gaming1 acquires 100% shares of Carousel
