Leon Tsoukernik leaves Gaming business

Vestar Group Holding a.s. (VGH) is pleased to announce that Leon Tsoukernik completed the sale of his 60% interest in VGH on 3 June 2024 to the other shareholders in VGH; Scott Hanna and Richard Kucik. Following the transaction, Mr. Hanna and Mr. Kucik each hold 50% of the shares of VGH. VGH is the parent company of King’s Entertainment (King’s Casino and Admiral Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic and King’s Casino in the Hilton Hotel Prague Czech Republic) and Kingsbet (the newly launched online business) and represent all the hotel and gaming interests of the group.

Scott Hanna commented on the sale:

“Leon and I met in Prague in 1993 when by chance I walked into his amazing antique shop in Dejvicka neighborhood in Prague. We quickly became close and in 2002 Leon, Richard and I founded King’s Entertainment with Leon leading the company building the facility and amazingly opening King’s Casino Rozvadov to the public just over a year later in June 2003. Leon literally lived on site for the first few years and was instrumental in creating King’s. He has expanded the business seven times over the past 21 years and dedicated most of his time to growing King’s into what it is today with us being very much the “silent” partners.

I followed the development of the Casino closely playing poker at King’s and watched the business go from strength to strength as the King’s Brand became established. In April 2020 after COVID forced the business to temporarily close I joined the management team based in Prague.

King’s has grown into one of the largest casinos in Europe and the biggest poker destination in Europe. The business is increasingly complex and more of an institutional operation as opposed to the close-knit family business Leon had created. With the build-up of Kingsbet over the past year culminating in its launch this week the size and complexity of the business continues to accelerate.

When Leon decided to exit the business and focus on family, art and other projects close to his heart, we agreed that a sale to the existing equity partners was best for the continuity of management the service of our customers the future growth and success of King’s and the continued commitment of the shareholders to the West Bohemia region. We were able to agree a purchase price that made everyone happy and supports these objectives. Although Leon is leaving the gaming business, he remains highly motivated that the business continues to grow and will continue as equity partner in related land development projects in West Bohemia.

I am excited to continue working with the team our customers and partners. Our goal is to be true to King’s reputation as THE address for entertainment and excellent service in our sector. We expect to continue to grow the land-based business and see a successful introduction of our online product – Kingsbet – to the market.

We will watch with interest as Leon starts a new chapter in his life. We expect to see him as a guest when the World Series of Poker Europe rolls into town from Las Vegas in September.

Congratulations Leon, King’s is 21 years old this month. You should be proud to have raised the business to maturity. Enjoy the show we plan to do a lot more exciting things over the next 21 years.”