Although the Enjoy headquarters always refused the idea of getting rid of the renowned Uruguayan establishment, the current situation marked by sustained losses in the first quarter of the year led to the decision to sell.
Interested in buying the casino in Uruguay has always been. But all the owners who have had control of Enjoy have refused. Now, the operation is in charge of Asset Chile, a firm that went on the market with the sale sign.
Although during the financial reorganization of the company it was always ruled out to get rid of that place in Uruguay that they arrived at in 2013, the current conditions changed the panorama and the new owners of Enjoy, Euroamérica and Penta, are looking for make cash or recover the investment they have made.
The merger with Dreams was the golden opportunity to take advantage of leaving, but the delay of the antitrust authority, with which they declared that business evicted, and a possible investigation for collusion between executives from the world of casinos -among them Enjoy and Dreams – made them look for options in their foreign operations. And Punta del Este was the ideal candidate, after selling his business in Mendoza, Argentina, last year.
Asset Chile is the company that worked with the creditors in Enjoy's financial reorganization and stayed with them when they became owners. It was this same agent who this month went out to contact local and foreign investors to offer ownership of the casino.
The price is not clear, but Enjoy would like to recover at least a part of what they invested. In 2013 when they bought 45% of the property, they disbursed US$ 139 million; and in 2017 they bought the rest for US$189 million: US$328 million. To this they must add all the investments they have made, but also all the debts that the casino has acquired for its operation.
Consulted directly with Enjoy, they said that to date they have not started a "formal sales process", however, in the market several players have already received the call from Asset Chile.
The company stressed that it is focused on long-term strategic plans to resume profitability, "so they are always analyzing new business alternatives both in Chile and in other markets, not ruling out a possible partnership or sale of assets as one of the possible alternatives."
They added that after the reorganization, "the pandemic had longer and more profound effects than those estimated at the time, so once the merger that did not materialize was over, the board of directors and management have been working on long-term strategic plans to resume profitability, analysis of alternatives for a strategic transaction that allow achieving the same objectives set out in the discarded merger with Dreams, such as strengthening the Company's balance sheet.”
Finally, they said that "today, Enjoy's focus is on resuming efficiency and value generation projects that contribute to its strategic objectives, such as process automation and the implementation of technologies to directly boost income generation."
Source: GMB / DF More
