The resolution was published in the Official Gazette. In Chile, it is claimed that it is a provision made to measure for Enjoy, so that it can get rid of the casinos that generate losses.
Chile.- Supreme Decree 803 was published in the Official Gazette of Chile with the signature of President Gabriel Boric, the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, and the Undersecretary of Finance, Heidi Berner. It modifies the regulations for the processing and granting of operating permits for gaming casinos. With these approved modifications, casino operators will be allowed to return their operating licenses without activating the committed guarantee bonds.
The modification in the regulation, as noted in Chile, has a clear beneficiary: Enjoy. Although the new legislation is broad and does not refer to any particular company, sources from the industry consulted by the newspaper Diario Financiero explained that Enjoy is the only operator for whom it is convenient to renounce its operating permits, as this would allow it to get rid of the licenses of the casinos that currently generate significant expenses: Coquimbo, Viña, and Pucón.
Enjoy was awarded the licenses for these venues in 2018, and they are currently a problem for the company, due to the million-dollar economic offers they presented at the time to be able to operate them, but which have not been profitable.
For the operation in Viña del Mar, Enjoy must pay 831,123 Development Units (UF), a figure that is equivalent to almost CLP 32,000m (USD 32m). For Coquimbo, Enjoy disburses UF 481,501 which means more than CLP 18,000m (USD 17m) and in Pucón, UF 121,000 equivalent to more than CLP 4,000m (USD 3.9m).
Given the impossibility of continuing to pay the licenses and considering that the one in Viña del Mar expires in 2036 and those in Pucón and Coquimbo only expire in 2037, the company initiated conversations with the Treasury authorities to be able to renounce the licenses without them charging the guarantee bonds, a benefit that did not exist before.
See also: Changes at the top of Enjoy: Esteban Rigo-Righi left the management
Additionally, this decree allows casino operators to manage the venues for a maximum of three years, while a new tender is promoted. Thus, this new mechanism will allow them to manage operations for a while, without harming the communities, employment, and regional governments, topics that concerned the Government and were their incentive to approve the modifications to this decree.
