The winner in the bid to operate the casino in the Carrasco Hotel in Montevideo is a consortium of Spain-based operator Codere and international hotel operator Sofitel.
Total investment in the project is expected to be about $63 million. It is expected that the new hotel casino project will create 450 jobs.
The Codere-Sofitel consortium managed to beat out three competing bidders. A bid by Hyatt Hotels and Grupo Liberman finished second, followed by offers from Tsakos and Pestana.
The Montevideo Council released the results in the third week of January. The four groups who submitted bids were to have five days to comment on the process.
The following step will see the results go to the Court of Auditors and then be studied by a local committee. The latter is expected to be a formality as the ruling political party has the votes necessary to pass the decision. The advice of the Court of Auditors on any comments delivered by the bidders is non-binding and will have no effect on the deliberations of the local council.
Should the local committee approve the tender process, the full project will then be presented to the committee for approval. The time allotted for the presentation and approval process is four months.
There is a two-year deadline for the construction process to be completed and the hotel and casino ready for business.
The concession to operate the hotel casino is good for 30 years.
