Operator News
Chile – Events stripped from Puerto Natales plan as tender is declared void
By Phil - 28 May 2019
The tender for the Municipal Casino of Puerto Natales in Chile has been declared void after the latest call put forward by the Chilean Gaming Control Board (SCJ) did not receive any bids. Now, the SCJ will meet with local government officials in order to make adjustments for the next bidding process.
During the first tender, which also failed to attract any offers, Puerto Natales was forced to discard the idea of an events centre in order to make the proposal more attractive to operators.
The term for the new tender has not yet been decided on yet as the new agreement reached with the municipal government must first go through the Deciding Council of the SJC for approval.
However, the special conditions established by the municipality for the current process include a minimum guaranteed economic offer of U.F. 13,000 per year, the continuity of 80 percent of the workers who work for the current concessionaire and the improvement of green areas in the local commune for a value of at least U.F. 1000. (The U.F is a determined amount of Chilean pesos duly adjusted for inflation on a daily basis).
The first tender was abandoned in September after no bidders came forward.
The granting of the municipal licences has been controversial. A number of potential operators pointed out shortcomings as well as a lack of information when it came to the process initiated by the SJC. They also warned that the demands put on operators applying for the casino licences were excessive and would make the businesses unprofitable. In June The Deciding Council of the SJC awarded five municipal casino licences with Enjoy scooping four licences and Sun dreams one while the other two tenders (Arica and Puerto Natales) have been delayed.
