SCJ advances Chile casino tenders after two sites receive no offers
Tenders & awards2 min read
Chile’s Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego received one bid each for casino permits in Coquimbo and Pucón, while Iquique and Viña del Mar received none. The SCJ said it will assess the two proposals within a maximum of 120 days and prepare new processes for the other communes.
Casino de Juegos de Coquimbo S.A. and Casino Volcán Pucón S.A. were the sole bidders for casino permits in Coquimbo and Pucón, while no bids were submitted for Iquique or Viña del Mar.
Chile’s casino regulator, the SCJ, will begin technical assessments of the Coquimbo and Pucón proposals, with a maximum of 120 days for that stage.
Dreams, Marina del Sol and Corporación Meier had objected to aspects of the four tenders before the SCJ, the Competition Tribunal and the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office. Legal actions led to decisions suspending or resuming parts of the process. The tribunal restarted the Viña del Mar tender in late May, although further requests to stop it were subsequently submitted.
Dreams chose not to bid because it considered participation unviable under the conditions set. The operator said the technical requirements were excessively burdensome and did not promote effective competition. Dreams estimated that the investment required in Iquique would reach $55m and objected to certain works being transferred to the municipality without compensation.
Marina del Sol said it had the interest and capacity to compete but was prevented from doing so by the conditions. It attributed the outcome to structural problems in the tender model used since 2015. The Viña del Mar requirements included opening the casino within three months, a minimum annual payment of 394,000 UF to the municipality and improvements to Avenida Perú costing up to 120,000 UF.
Corporación Meier said the economic, technical and investment conditions could be disproportionate to current market conditions. It said minimum financial bids, together with tax, regulatory and investment obligations, could undermine project viability and reduce incentives for new operators to enter.
The four casinos are currently controlled by two operators. Casinos de Chile, created after Enjoy’s judicial reorganisation, manages the Viña del Mar, Coquimbo and Pucón properties while their transfer to a new operator is completed. Dreams manages the Iquique casino.
New processes will be needed for Iquique and Viña del Mar, and the SCJ must redefine the special conditions for their technical tender terms.