Swiss casino operator Stadtcasino Baden AG has sold a major chunk of its Davos gaming venue to Belgium’s Ardent Group to prep for the expected launch of legal online gambling in Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Stadtcasino announced that it had sold 44% of its Casino Davos property to Ardent (the former Circus Groupe). Stadtcasino will retain a 46% stake in the venue, while the Davos Tourism Organization will hold the remaining 10% stake.

Stadtcasino Baden called the deal a “strategic decision” intended to lean on Ardent’s “many years of online casino experience.” In addition to land-based operations, Ardent operates online via six different platforms in multiple jurisdictions, including Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Colombia.

In preparation for Switzerland’s expected transition to legal online casino play, Grand Casino Baden spent around CHF500k to launch a free-play online casino site (JackPots.ch) last year that is powered by Ardent’s B2B division Gaming1.