Just one casino company submitted a bid to acquire the share package of three casinos owned by the Council of Tenerife, on the Spanish-ruled island on the coast of West Africa.
Earlier this year, four companies were reportedly ready to bid on the casino group and expressed their interest in writing. The sole bid will remain sealed until authorities on the Spanish-ruled West African island determine that it meets the legal and technical requirements of the tender process.
“The political decision must be taken as to whether or not to continue the transfer, always taking into account the margin that is legally and technically allowed,” said the leader of the local council, Carlos Alonso.
If the company meets all the requirements and a decision is made to halt the licensing process, the government could have to pay financial compensation to the bidding company for the expenses it incurred.
The process to sell off the island’s state-owned Casino Santa Cruz, Casino Playa de las Americas and Casino Taoro was launched by Alonso last September. The funds received from the privatization scheme were to be used to “finance social health infrastructures’ on Spain’s largest and most populous island, which draws more than 5.4 million tourists a year.
Applicants were required to invest at least €4.5 million (US$5.2 million) over four years to expand or renovate any property they purchased.
The tender was launched despite local controversy, with the General Workers Union of Spain unanimously opposed to the process. The winning bidder or bidders would have been obligated to keep the existing casino workers on until at least the end of 2020, but the trade union called that provision “unacceptable.”
According to G3Newswire, this isn’t the first time the local government has tried to sell off one of its casinos. In 2014, when it attempted to sell the Casino Playa de las Americas property, it was reported that “at least three parties” were interested. But no formal bids were ever received.
