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Chile poised for 15 new casinos
Towards the middle of last month, the Chile Gaming Commission (Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego), put under notice the eight remaining companies in the casino licensing tender process for the fifth, Sixth and Seventh Region in the country, that they have passed the pre qualifying tests and had therefore been approved to enter the final project technical assessment stage for the 5 licences still available for cities in those regions.
The gaming commission also announced that it had consulted the national Information Agency, the FBI and Interpol, through Chile’s Investigations Police, seeking references on the 524 people who were taking part as shareholders in the qualifying companies, to confirm the status of them as suitable members of the companies, as established by the gaming legislation.
During the searches, the Gaming Commission carried out the work on the companies and people involved in the casino licensing process, in the same way as it did with the companies that finished the process on 12 April, and where 10 casinos licences were awarded for casino operations for six regions in the country.
One of the most important aspects of the investigations by the Gaming Commission relates to the origin of the capital investment for the casinos, which shall finance the projected entertainment complexes. The GC’s searches have gone to the legitimate finance sources to establish availability of funds for the projects that win the tenders.
There are 2 licences available for the Fifth Region, where both Casino de Juegos del Pacífico S.A. of Chilean Argentinean IVISA group, holding 80% of the stock; and Salguero Hotels Chile S.A., with Chilean and Colombian investment are practically assured of licences for each company. The first has a US $22.3 million investment for the town of San Antonio, while the second shall invest US $16.6 millions in Rinconada de Los Andes.
The Sixth Region also has room for 2 licences, and there are five companies vying for them, with three going for the plum of them all in Rancagua, which is closest to Santiago, the country’s capital city, where casinos are not permitted. However, owing to distance licensing limitations, 4 companies are going for one licence, with regional leaders Cirsa heading a US $46.5 million investment for Rancagua.
Chilean leading operator Martinez Group has its brand Enjoy putting up US $44 million for its proposed complex, and Pinnacle from USA through its Argentine operators Casino Magic plans to invest US $15.8 millions for the same city, while French Argentine group IGGR proposes to put up US $60 million for the city of Mostazal.
Lastly, in the Seventh Region, Sociedad Casino de Juego de Talca S.A., seems assured of the only licence for the city of Talca, where Chilean and North American investors led by leading operator Joe Lopez are planning to invest US $13.2 million.
