The bingo clubs are located in Cricklewood and Northampton, UK.
By Beth Turner
Buzz Bingo has completed its acquisition of two Merkur locations in Cricklewood and Northampton, UK.
News of the intended acquisitions was announced in May. The ribbon-cutting for the venues under Buzz Bingo ownership is scheduled for September.
The two bingo halls have been open for over 25 years and welcomed more than 400,000 guests last year, with an average payout of £1m ($1.27m) in prizes monthly. In particular, the Cricklewood, London location holds a Guinness World Record for the highest single bingo house prize at £100,000.
The acquisitions are part of Buzz Bingo’s current business strategy to become a key omnichannel bingo brand in the UK. The acquisitions also follow the opening of Buzz Bingo’s first ‘boutique’ club in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, as part of efforts to appeal to younger players.
On the acquisitions, Buzz Bingo Chief Executive Dominic Mansour said: “There is a huge and growing number of people playing bingo for the first time, and through our fun and digitally enabled retail sites we are building a new fanbase of Buzz Bingo customers.
“The completion of this acquisition alongside the trial of our new streaming concept is clear evidence of the positive momentum within Buzz and the successful delivery of our turn-around plan. Our omnichannel strategy uniquely positions us to leverage the best of both retail and online Bingo for our customers, as we continue our journey to become the nation’s number-one choice for Bingo.”
In its annual report in October, its first full year of operations post-Covid, revenue was up 47% for the bingo operator, with a gross profit of £137m. Indeed, in the UK bingo has been growing in popularity, especially among younger players, with the likes of Mecca Bingo partnering with the daytime talk show Loose Women to create a line of branded online scratch cards.
On its strategy to appeal to new players via influencer marketing, we spoke with Mecca Bingo’s Head of PR and Social Media Mark Cheevers in the June issue of Trafficology.