CASINOS AUSTRIA SHAKEN BY
LICENCE LOSSES GOES ON ATTACK The €50m redevelopment of the Palais Schwarzenberg by Swiss Casino Baden and the Gauselmann Group has been challenged and delayed by Casinos Austria
Analysts in Austria have speculated that the failure of Casinos Austria to secure any of the three new casino licences from the Ministry of Finance, could have halved the value of the business. In the months prior to the decision to award the licences to Swiss Casino Baden and the Novomatic Group, an advisory committee of experts had consistently ranked Casinos Austria’s bid as the outright winner. Not only was the Casinos Austria out in front, but it was forecast that the company would retain its monopoly position by winning all three licences.
It was with some shock that Casinos Austria received the news that it had failed to win any of the concessions. Two days before the Ministry made its decision, one Austrian analyst stated that the Gauselamnn bid had been thrown out completely, only for its joint bid with Swiss Casino Baden to win one licence, with Novomatic racing in to win licences two and three. Upset at the decision, Casinos Austria has vowed to use every means available to challenge the Ministry of Finance’s allocation of the licences.
Insight AUSTRIA
Schwarzenberg, jeopardising the planned opening of the project on July 1, 2015. According to Hubertus Thonhauser, formerly of Casinos Austria International and now Chairman of Grand Casino Wien, the operating company two thirds owned by Casino Baden AG, the rest Germany’s Gauselmann Group, said of the Casinos Austria’s objection that it: “"Serves only to gain time. We are sure to keep the license. It is really Much Ado About Nothing.”
The Austrian press has already leapt upon the story, claiming that Casinos Austria is likely to scale back its charitable donations and sponsorship of sports and good causes as a response to the snub from the Ministry of Finance; claims the company vehemently denies. However, more worrying are the issues Casinos Austria faces at the shareholder level as the calculated value of the company at €800m-1bn has been seriously shaken by the failure to win any of the new concessions.
Spurred on by the dire financial ramifications, Casinos Austria has temporarily halted the development of the Swiss Casino Baden/Gauselmann Group Casino at the Palais
Casinos Austria’s lawyer, Gabriel Lansky, maintains that the Swiss/German Groupo does not have a valid building permit to commence construction, a tactic Mr. Thonhauser describes as ‘a delaying tactic.’ Preparatory work for the casino continues, but construction work on the building, a palace that is part of the Liechtenstein Family Foundation of Schwarzenberg, cannot continue until the license is made final. How long that will take and whether the dispute goes before the highest courts in Austria, currently no one can estimate.
"Now everything is in a queue," stated the Foundation's lawyer Maximilian Schaffgotsches, angry over the opposition of Casinos Austria. “They have a monopoly-like thinking that’s in the Stone Age. This is EU law.”
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