There were seven bidders in total with two bidders requesting not to be identified. A noticeable omission is Galaxy Entertainment, which previously said it was interested in Osaka.
The Osaka IR promotion bureau, jointly run by the Osaka prefectural and city authorities, stated that participation by casino operators and others in Osaka’s RFC phase would not in itself be a qualifying phase for entry to the directly-competitive request-for-proposal (RFP) stage. Nor will participation in Osaka’s RFC provide any kind of points or credit with the local authorities there regarding the eventual RFP, it was stated.
Operator selection via Osaka’s RFP phase will be dependent on the terms of the Japanese government’s yet-to-be-announced basic policy on so-called integrated resorts, or “IRs”, stated the Osaka IR promotion bureau.
A maximum of three IRs will be allowed in the first phase of Japan’s liberalisation of such business.
The Osaka IR promotion bureau also mentioned that from past June 3 until June 28 it would be having talks with RFC participants. The expected due date for the full RFC submission was August. From August to October, the promotion bureau would hold further talks with the RFC participants regarding their respective submissions.
Source: GMB
