Last month the New York Lottery issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the thirty-year video lottery licence to develop and operate 4,500 video lottery terminals (VLTs) at Aqueduct Racetrack. The minimum upfront licensing fee is us$ 300 million, with previous offers received as high as us$ 370 million.
Genting said that it paid a us$ 1 million entry fee earlier this month to participate in the bidding process, and that it is currently evaluating the project and will have until June 29th to decide if it wishes to formally submit a bid.
Others to have paid the us$ 1 million entry fee include previous bidders Delaware North & Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, Penn National, and SL Green Realty Corp, as well as equity firm Clairvest Group and Empire City Casino & Yonkers Raceway.
According to the New York Lottery’s RFP, the us$ 1 million entry fee will be refunded if no official bid is entered or if the bidder is not selected to develop and operate the video lottery facility. The winning bid is expected to be announced on August 3rd.
The lottery was forced to reopen the bidding process after a previous consortium, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, failed in its bid after state and federal authorities began probing political connections to the contract award. Aqueduct Entertainment's bid was backed by Clairvest Group.
Genting’s first foray into the US casino market was an investment in Las Vegas’ MGM Mirage, but the company continues to look at other strategic investments to expand its businesses outside of its core Asian and UK markets. Genting is one of the UK’s largest casino owners, operating the Circus, Maxim and Mint brands. The company also opened Singapore’s first legal casino earlier this year.