Paf Buys Bell Casino to Triple Its Ferry Gaming Footprint

Paf has acquired Swedish family-owned Bell Casino AB, a shipboard gaming operator with roughly 50 vessels on passenger ferry routes across Europe. Bell runs onboard gaming between Sweden, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The deal expands Paf’s shipboard presence from 26 vessels to approximately 80. The combined shipboard operation will include around 1,500 gaming machines and 450 arcade games.

Financial terms were not disclosed. B2B reports place the deal closure on 1 June 2026; Paf’s own press release does not specify a completion date.

Bell Casino was founded in 1973 by Morgan Eliasson and has 28 employees. Paf confirmed Bell will retain its current brand, business model and customer relationships. Morgan Eliasson stays on as senior adviser; his son Marcus Eliasson continues as CEO of Bell Casino AB.

Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf, called the acquisition “strategically important for our Land & Ship business, as it gives us the right conditions to continue developing our operations over the long term.”

Lasse Danielsson, COO of Paf’s Land & Ship division, said the combined scale gives both companies a stronger base for investment in modernisation and new technology. Bell, he added, complements Paf’s operations “both geographically and commercially.”

Beyond its existing Baltic and North Sea base, Bell gives Paf wider access to Western European and UK ferry routes.

TGJ Take

This deal is about physical route control, not digital growth. Ferry-route access is limited, and long-term onboard gaming relationships can be difficult for rivals to displace. For gaming machine and arcade suppliers, a combined Paf-Bell operation across about 80 vessels creates a larger procurement target. For operators watching the land-based space, the acquisition is a reminder that regulated physical assets with recurring passenger flows can still justify M&A at a time when the industry conversation is dominated by online.