SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The merger of Chilean casino giants Dreams SA and Enjoy has been scuppered as dealmakers declare “the process to be abandoned”.
The announcement was made via Chile’s Financial Markets Commission (CMF), which informed stakeholders that both companies had chosen to remain as separate businesses.
Merger terms had been agreed last year, in which Dreams shareholders would control the majority (64%) of an enlarged casino and leisure business, absorbing the assets of Enjoy.
The deal was viewed as outright transformative for Chile’s gambling market. Had it materialised, it would have created an enterprise which controlled “58% land-based gambling permits and 76% of the Chilean gambling’s total gross income in 2019”.
Yet the merger failed to clear controls by FNE, the competition authority of Chile. The FNE flagged concerns over Dreams and Enjoy taking full control of Chile’s municipal casinos.
Dreams and Enjoy had offered to sell the Enjoy Santiago property to appease FNE concerns. However, the sale was rejected as FNE launched a 90-day antitrust investigation into the merger and whether dealmakers had colluded to secure certain outcomes.
“The parties have agreed to terminate the merger agreement in accordance with its stipulations and not to continue with the operation,” Dreams informed the CMF.
Meanwhile, Enjoy confirmed that it abandoned negotiations with Dreams to focus on its continued expansion within South American markets.
This February, Enjoy announced the planned launch of its proprietary ‘localised platform’ which has been customised for Brazil’s hotly anticipated sports betting and online gambling marketplace.
In addition, the company has expressed its commitment to launching a localised online gambling platform for Chile once lawmakers settle on the terms of the legislative framework.
