Big operators plan to bid for just a few of the new licenses

British casino plans fall victim to economy

(UK).- Bad news for the British casino industry were reported in The Sunday Times this week. The credit crunch seems to have left most big operators re-thinking their bids for the 16 new licenses made available last year.
2008-12-23
Reading time 47 seg

According to The Sunday Times, “British casino groups, including Rank, Gala Coral and Genting Stanley, all plan to bid for just a few of the new licenses.”

The change in attitude towards the licensing comes after the economic situation has brought fears the licenses would be bad investments with no foreseeable return for several years.

One industry insider made the example that London Club International (LCI) recently opened a casino in Leeds worth £15million, near where one of the proposed new licenses will go, and stated, “For someone to compete with that, they are going to have to build something bigger and better. In the current market, that’s just not going to happen.”

One British casino executive said: “We are looking at a lot fewer of these things than we were originally. In a better economic environment, they are viable and appealing. In the current environment, it will be challenging to make a number of them work.”

Even-though most British groups are understandably hesitant at the idea of going for the new licenses, local councils may find that overseas casino companies more likely to bid. Casinos Austria is such groups said to be interested in some of the sites.

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