US-Greek consortium Mohegan Gaming Advisors – GEK Terna SA has been awarded the casino license for the Hellinikon project. The Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) took this decision on Monday.
The Mohegan-GEK consirtum was the only bidder after the HGO excluded the Hard Rock from the tender last week citing technical reasons.
Hard Rock International (HRI) has reportedly a 10-day deadline to object to the decision or to resort to the Council of State.
The license award brings the Hellinikon project one step closer to have works starting, noted state-run news agency amna.
Lamda Development, the developer of the project in Hellinikon, in an announcement a few day ago said that most pending issues have been settled while others are currently in the process of being settled (casino license, court decisions on pending annulment applications).
Once these pending issues are resolved, the company will be ready to begin the implementation of the project.
Lamda Development successfully completed a 650 million euros share capital increase plan in December 2019, the largest share capital increase ever by a non-financial company in Greece in the last decade.
Aegean Airlines – a strategic partner of Lamda Development – participated in the share capital increase plan, along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which acquired 1.8 pct of the company. Following completion of the share capital increase, Lamda Development’s capitalisation and net asset value exceeds 1.0 billion euros.
PS it is not clear whether there is a possibility that the casino project would be delayed, should the Hard Rock appeal the decision.
