Enjoy SA, which owns and operates casinos in Chile and Argentina, has filed a lawsuit against Chilean competitor Sun Dreams for possible acts of unfair competition.
The suit, filed before Chile’s Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition, arose after Enjoy was awarded the 15-year license for the Pucón and Puerto Varas casinos once the tender for the municipal casinos was completed.
“Fourteen months after that award there is a deep concern that none of these projects, legitimately awarded, has been able to begin construction. And this is not due to causes attributable to our representatives,” said the company in the document presented to the TDLC.
“The delay is due to the fact that Sun Dreams, a competitor of Enjoy, has developed an organized, repeated and systematic accumulation of judicial, administrative and de facto actions, aimed at taking away from the company the permits that were legitimately granted and, alternatively, to increase the legal and business uncertainty that affects it and its costs, until its operation becomes unfeasible,” the complaint says. “And Sun Dreams has acted in the conviction that the delay in the construction of Enjoy’s projects, in which it is committed, will be enough to drive it out from the market.”
According to Chilean regulations, casino operators have two years to begin operations after a permit has been granted, with a possible extension of up to 12 months. But the regulations do not provide for a possible suspension or postponement by the licensing authority in case of judicial or administrative actions against the awarding of the license.
Enjoy claims it is “the victim of the results of a strategic act,” and has asked the TDLC to fine Sun Dreams in the amount of US$12.5 million.
In 2018 Sun Dreams, filed two appeals before the Santiago Appeals Court against the Chilean Gaming Board (SJC) through which it seeks to challenge and revert the decision to grant the license to the casinos of Pucón and Puerto Varas to Enjoy. Sun Dreams argue that the resolutions of the SCJ are illegal.
According to the company, Enjoy’s proposals included incorrect technical criteria, which allowed the company to reduce the costs associated with both projects. This, they argue, allowed the company to put forward greater profit forecasts but went against the rules of the tender and other regulations. This is significant as once the technical bid evaluation was completed then the winning bidder was awarded to the company offering the highest financial bid.
Enjoy SA own and operates casinos and five-star hotels in the Chilean cities of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Vina del Mar, Rinconada, Santa Cruz and Pucon.
