Operator News
France – Partouche told to pay up for La Trinité-sur-Mer casino
By Phil - 28 March 2017
The Rennes Administrative Court has ruled against the Partouche group, who closed a casino in the municipality of La Trinité-sur-Mer before its public service delegation was up.
The local council of La Trinité-sur-Mer said it had only been paid €128,000 of the €6.5m that it said it should have been paid during the period that the casino was open.
The tourist company La Trinité, a former delegate of the La Trinité-sur-Mer casino in Morbihan, and the Partouche group were both found at fault by the Rennes Administrative Court.
Partouche decided to close Grand Casino de La Trinité-sur-Mer on June 30 2015, six and a half years before the end of the public service delegation. The municipality had launched several proceedings against the operator. The amount allocated to Trinité-sur-Mer corresponds to contributions to unpaid local associations from 2011 to 2015.
The casino had experienced difficulties since its opening in 2003. It was the smallest of the Morbihan casinos with 26 employees, 57 slot machines and just two game tables.
Despite an investment of €5.5m in 2008 to renovate the facility, the venue continued to make losses, which hit €7m in 2011. The added competition of neighbouring casinos in Carnac and Quiberon and ultimately that of Vannes spelled the end of the casino. Having won the licence to operate in Vannes, Partouche said it wanted to concentrate on opening that casino, unless gaming tax was dropped from 15 to five per cent and a contribution to support tourism was abolished.
