In her announcement in January, Vidal informed that she was going to tender the administration of 3860 slot machines that work in seven of the twelve provincial casinos, in addition to closing three casinos and one bingo. The opening of envelopes was going to happen last Tuesday, but close to the date it was postponed until June 27.
The first company to buy a bid was Boldt SA, according to local newspaper La Nación. The firm operates today the seven rooms that will be tendered, and owns the building in which Trilenium casino works, one of the largest with almost 1600 slots.
The second company to sign up was Yojne SA, anagram of Enjoy, the Chilean firm that owns the Conrad of Punta del Este and the Casino de Mendoza. Since last year, Enjoy is controlled by the American investment fund Advent.
The third tender document was acquired by Codere, the company based in Spain but also managed by US funds. Codere is the main bingo operator in Buenos Aires, where it controls 13 of the 45 rooms of the Province.
AJEST SA is the fourth interested company, while the fifth is Bingo Pilar SA, and the sixth was acquired by Victoria Casino, which, in addition to a gaming venue in the province of Entre Rios, operates three bingo halls in the province of Buenos Aires.
It is the first public tender since gaming came under the control of the province, in 1995. Since then, all permits and authorizations were granted, renewed and endorsed directly.
The seven casinos will be tendered in three combos, which combine the most and least profitable venues, so that there are no empty offers: Trilenium (Tigre) will be tendered with the Pinamar casino, the Central (Mar del Plata) with the Monte Hermoso one, and the Hermitage (Mar del Plata) with the casinos of Tandil and Miramar.
Source: GMB / La Nación (Argentina)
