Supplier News
Argentina – Bloomberry looks to take Solaire to Buenos Aires
By Phil - 25 September 2015
Bloomberry Resorts a company based in the Philippines could enter the Latin American market with a new casino in Argentina.
Bloomberry told the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday that: “Solaire de Argentina has a proposal to establish an integrated resort in Argentina, but it is still pending evaluation and action of government agencies and regulators in Argentina.”
President of BloomberryResorts Enrique Razon came forward to clarify the issue after a report appeared in local newspaper The Philippine Star which reported that Bloomberry Resorts was seeking approval for a casino project “in an undisclosed area of the capital, Buenos Aires.”
“It’s a big market for slots,” Mr Razon said adding that plans were “still in the preliminary stages.”
Solaire de Argentina S.A.is an Argentine business and headed by Oscar Alberto Ghezzi who is the former head of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants of the Argentina Republic and is the current president of the Argentina Chamber of Tourism. 94 per cent of the company is owned by the listed Philippine firm through Bloom Capital B.V its wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands.
The Argentine subsidiary is already in the development stages of building a web page associated with the project, www.solairedeargentina.com, even though the company has yet to pass regulatory approval.
Recently, Bloomberry confirmed that it was planning on reopening its casino in Korea and is also looking at Taiwan and Japan once gaming laws change.
The Philippine press also reported that Mr. Razon already has investments in Argentina since 2008, after another of his companies-International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTS) – won a 30-year concession to operate a port of loading in the city of La Plata in Buenos Aires.
Should the company be given the go ahead to operate in the capital it will be in one of the most controversial jurisdictions in the region where for years lawmakers have battled it out over who should receive the lion’s share of gaming tax revenue. Controversy revolves around how slot machines should be taxed and whether it should be the federal government or the autonomous city of Buenos Aires who should reap the benefits of the income generated by both the floating casinos and the slots based in the Palermo Racetrack.
