However, this decision does not imply that the sector is going through a bad time, but rather the opposite. According to Javier Berasategui, director of the firm, there is no crisis in the gaming sector. "In fact, 2009 was the year of poker and in 2010 we had record production, and we were at the center of the general crisis,"he said. Also, from the company confirmed that both production and turnover grow year by year.
Heraclio Fournier founded the company in the late nineteenth century, quickly growing business and currently has a global market share of 35 percent. In 1986 it was acquired by The United States Playing Card Company, belonging to the Jarden Corporation group, which was purchased by the holding Newell Brands two years ago.
In 2017, Naipes Heraclio Fournier produced more than 10 million decks, with which it provided all casinos in South Africa, 90 percent of Europeans and 70 percent of Middle Eastern locations.
According to the figures published by El País, the Ebitda (Earnings before interest and taxes) of the Spanish company during its last balance was 40 million euros. Sources consulted by the Spanish media estimate that the price of the card manufacturer would be between seven and twelve times its Ebitda. Although it generates profits, Fournier cut costs especially in the area of human resources, since it happened to have 60 employees of the 1,500 that it had in the middle of the last century.
Source: GMB / Apertura (Argentina)
