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The board of Enjoy SA has revealed that it is examining ‘three unique offers’ to sell its South American casino resorts and properties.
The disclosure was made to Chile’s Financial Markets Commission (CMF) as Enjoy remains under regulatory scrutiny due to financial solvency issues impacting its creditor demands.
The CMF was informed that ‘deals remain non-binding’. However, Enjoy was in negotiations with three established South American operators to sell its non-Chilean casino resorts.
Local media referenced Mexico’s Logrand Entertainment, which had previously been a frontrunner to acquire Enjoy’s Argentine and Uruguayan properties and made an offer to purchase the entire firm outright in 2023.
Noted as a deal-breaker is Enjoy’s pricing of its Punta del Este Casino, crucial as the embattled company maintains a casino licence until 2036 in Uruguay’s municipality, recognised as South America’s most glamorous beach resort.
Outside of Chile, Enjoy further operates casino and arcade properties in the Argentine province of Mendoza.
Negotiations are led by Esteban Rigo-Righi, the new CEO of Enjoy, who stated that the sale of South American properties would be contingent on the company’s ongoing ‘judicial reorganisation’, which aims to address financial challenges and structure a viable proposal for sustainability.
Enjoy filed for bankruptcy in 2022 as the firm reported owing creditors liabilities totaling $350m. The firm admitted that it could not repay debt maturities on a seven-year $220m bond issued by UMB Bank of Kansas City, used to acquire ‘Conrad,’ a South American subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment, in 2013.
2022 saw Enjoy’s creditors agree to the business’ merger with Chilean casino resorts rival Dreams SA.
However, the merger was disbanded in 2023, as an investigation by FNE, Chile’s Competition Authority, revealed severe breaches of antitrust controls, determining that Enjoy and Dreams’ former leadership teams had colluded to secure deal rewards, duping investors.
Enjoy announced a new financial reorganisation process in January, needed to rebalance cash flows to meet creditor demands and external operating factors such as Chile’s rising inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic.
