Operatornieuws
Chili – Enjoy heeft een verlenging van drie jaar nodig om vier gemeentelijke licenties opnieuw te lanceren
By Phil - 30 april 2020
Chilean casino group Enjoy has said it needs at least a three year extension to launch four municipal casinos in Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, Pucón and Puerto Varas.
It has lodged its request with the Superintendency of Gambling Casinos (SCJ) saying this is the ‘minimum period’ the casino sector needs to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Enjoy was awarded the licences for casinos in these four cities in 2018 with the plan to relaunch them between October this year and July 2021.
De exploitant heeft gezegd dat de huidige economische situatie, veroorzaakt door de COVID-19-uitbraak, het voor hem onmogelijk heeft gemaakt om te voldoen aan de projecten die in de aanbesteding zijn vastgelegd. Het bevestigde ook dat het een gerechtelijke reorganisatie plant om zijn gaming-imperiums in Chili, Argentinië en Uruguay, die nu een maand gesloten zijn vanwege de COVID-19-uitbraak, te beschermen.
According to a filing, Enjoy is in discussion with its lenders to restructure its debts and avoid bankruptcy, saying it was being supported by some of its creditors. The process of judicial reorganisation implies that the debtor proposes to all of its creditors that it will modify its obligations, obtaining a longer term, grace periods and a lower interest rate. Enjoy’s shares fell 32 per cent following the news.
The operator is also looking to sell $150m in new shares to raise funds to service its debts.
A statement from Enjoy read: “This decision was made based on the company’s current financial situation, expected income for the coming months and the situation of payment to the creditors of the company. One of the reasons that justify this measure is the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a result of which the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos instructed the closure of gaming casinos, throughout Chile, from March 18 and until the epidemiological conditions allow its suppression and the sanitary authorities determine it.”
“In addition to the above, the effects generated by the social outbreak that occurred in our country as of October 18, 2019, with the tourism, hotel, gastronomy and gaming casino industries being the most affected categories and at the national level,” the statement added. “This, at Enjoy’s business level, led to the forced closure of operations for several days, and then to a subsequent intermittent, partial operation, the generation of extraordinary and unforeseen costs and expenses and a general drop in the flow of visits. These effects have generated a strong financial impact, reflected in losses in business results during the last quarter of 2019 and a significant worsening in Enjoy’s financial situation since then,
Fitch Ratings believes Enjoy has enough cash reserves to last around two months with no income. It is due to make an interest payment on an international bond and pay off $23.3m in local notes May, but does not see itself meeting these obligations.
Enjoy and other casino groups in Chile are in discussions with the country’s regulator, Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego, to implement ‘corrective or palliative measures’ to address the lack of income for casinos in the country.
