Televisa to Sell off its Gaming Division SOUTH AMERICA
Te Mexican business group Televisa is analysing the possible sale of its PlayCity Casino betting business as part of its divestiture of non-strategic assets
PlayCity Casino is the business segment that operates under subsidiary Apuestas Internacionales, which also controls Sorteos del Trébol
MEXICO CASINO OPERATIONS
CHILE – Sun Dreams, has now filed two appeals before the Santiago Appeals Court against the Chilean Gaming Board (SJC) through which it seeks to challenge and revert the decision to grant the licence to the casinos of Pucón and Puerto Varas to rival Enjoy.
Sun Dreams argue that the resolutions of the SCJ are illegal. According to the company, Enjoy presented two projects with incorrect technical criteria, which allowed the company to reduce the costs associated with both projects. This, they argue, allowed the company to put forward greater profit forecasts but went against the rules of the tender and other regulations. This is significant as once the technical bid evaluation was completed then the winning bidder was awarded to the company offering the highest financial bid.
In both documents submitted to court, Sun Dreams argues: "The awarded bidder has submitted a project with lower associated costs, which allowed it to present an economic offer of greater value than that offered by this party, which ultimately determined the decision of the contest in its favour. This is because the economic offer is the determining factor... for the granting of a casino operating permit.”
According to the licensing process, technical bids were received from each of the applicants and the SJC verified that they contained each of the relevant documents as set out in the technical bid evaluation guidelines.
Once the evaluation was completed and the scores awarded, the SJC dictated a resolution indicating the final scores for each of the applicants and called a hearing for the financial stage of the bidding process. In this public hearing, a representative of the Deciding Council opened the envelopes that contained the financial offers of those applicants who had passed the minimum score established by law. This score had to be at least 600 points out of a total of 1,000 in order to go forward. The licence was then awarded to the operator that submitted the highest financial offer.
In the case of Pucón, Sun Dreams argues that Enjoy did not meet the minimum requirements for a 4- star hotel. The company also argues that there are problems relating to car parking for the proposed site while for the casino in Puerto Varas, the company says that there are logistical problems meaning that the project cannot be developed in the terms presented in the tender. In addition, the company alleges that the real amount of work needed for the fusion of the new casino to the already existing hotel could be greater than that proposed in the tender.
P12 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
Te Mexican business group Televisa is analysing the possible sale of its PlayCity Casino betting business as part of its divestiture of non- strategic asset as confirmed by the company. PlayCity Casino is the business segment that operates under subsidiary Apuestas Internacionales, which also controls Sorteos del Trébol - its lottery and raffles brand.
According to Mexican newspaper Reforma, the Spanish group Codere could be one possible buyer. Te value of the transaction stands at around US$300m, according to analysts. Te estimated window for the sale would be within 90 days. Te company is carrying out an operation to sell its non-strategic assets and thus focus on its most profitable businesses. In June the company sold 19 per cent of its stake in the Spanish media group Imagina, in return for US$ 341m. Te company, whose two co-chief executives took over in January, also sold its stakes in Editorial Atlantida, an Argentine publishing group, in February. Te company is trying to adapt to the media market and increase advertising as it is struggling in the face
Argentina
Te Argentine government has chosen to freeze the assets and all monies belonging to members of an organisation presumed to have ties to the Shiite terrorist organisation Hezbollah, following a manouevre to launder 10 million dollars in a casino in the town of Iguazú, in the area known as the Triple Frontier region, between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
Authorities discovered that the members of the so-called "Barakat Clan" could have collected 10 million dollars in an Iguazú casino for alleged prizes and these funds were not declared when crossing the border. Faced with the suspicion of serious criminal activity related to the illicit origin of the funds and the hypothesis that, once out of the country, the money would be transferred by the cell to Hezbollah, the Government decided to freeze the funds.
of online streaming services. In February the company posted a quarterly net profit down 12.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Televisa is a leading media company in the Spanish-speaking world, an important cable operator in Mexico and a leading direct-to- home satellite pay television system. Televisa is also involved in magazine publishing and distribution, radio production and broadcasting, sports and entertainment, as well as film production and distribution, as well as gaming.
Televisa was given permission to open a total 65 bingo halls in 2005. Te groups gaming division currently operates 7,200 electronic gaming machines as well as a sports betting website.
Sorteos del Trébol is dedicated to commercialising number games and instant raffles. As well as offering traditional raffles such as Superlotto, Sorteos del Trébol also encompasses sports pools games such as GanaGol and has over 5,300 points of sale in Mexico.
Plans approved to bring casino back to life in Punta del Este
Uruguay
Te Departmental Board of Maldonado has given its approval for the architectural plans for the modernisation and restoration of the San Rafael Hotel in Punta del Este. Te new complex, designed by renowned Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly on behalf of Grupo Cipriani, will include a private casino. Te emblematic San Rafael hotel in Punta del Este, has been closed since 2011, but was acquired by the Cipriani Group for more than US$40 million in February after an agreement was signed by Italian businessman Giuseppe Cipriani.
Te project encompasses the construction of two horizontal towers perpendicular to each other with a maximum height of 100 meters in addition to the restoration of the Tudor style building, which was first
inaugurated in 1948. Te Cipriani Group has already invested significantly in Uruguay having built a US$40 million 5-star casino hotel in the city of La Barra, in December 2003.
Te new proposal received the backing of 25 councillors out of 31 and establishes a maximum period of 180 days for the commencement of the works once the construction permit is granted. In addition, councillors approved the purchase of an additional 1,400 square meters of council owned land in the same block for US$1.6m.
Te company plans an estimated investment of US$200m to refurbish the old building. Over time, the old hotel had lost customers, its casino license, and was finally reduced to operating just 15 out of its 135 rooms. Te new complex will span 183,360sq.m, reconstruct the old San Rafael hotel with more than 100 rooms and include a private casino.
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