Casino tenders advance in four Chilean municipalities
The Chilean Superintendency of Gaming Casinos confirmed that the processes for granting four casino operating permits for the municipalities of Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, and Pucón are continuing according to the established schedule. The regulator noted that on July 28, the Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition rejected the appeals for reconsideration filed by Marina del Sol and Corporación Meier regarding the decision not to suspend the process of granting the permit for the municipality of Viña del Mar, and also dismissed the request by Corporación Meier and Dreams to suspend all processes corresponding to the four municipalities.
This resolution upholds the tribunal's decision of July 2, when it had rejected the suspension of the permit granting process for Viña del Mar. In that decision, the body considered the information provided by the superintendency along with other information incorporated into the process. Consequently, the hearing for the presentation of technical and economic offers for the municipalities of Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, and Pucón remains scheduled for August 11, 2026, at 10 AM, at the regulator's premises in Santiago.
Recently, the National Economic Prosecutor's Office also endorsed the process, with background information indicating that it observed no restrictions in the procedure. The body analyzed the special conditions provided in the third transitory article of the Casino Law, including the guaranteed minimum economic offer, the predetermination of the casino's location on municipal properties, the construction or expansion of tourism infrastructure, the limited timeframe to install equipment and operate, the transfer of assets to the municipality, and the labor continuity of all personnel of the current operator.
According to the prosecutor's office's document, the examination focused on evaluating the potential discriminatory nature of these conditions among bidders and the possible effects on the competitive intensity of the granting processes. The body specified that these are requirements incorporated within the framework authorized by the Casino Law, applicable equally to all potential bidders and known by them before the submission of offers, without altering their relative position.
Tags: Superintendency of Gaming Casinos, Court for the Defense of Free Competition, National Economic Prosecutor's Office, casino tender