The Meier Corporation, a Peruvian group that operates casinos in Chile, has requested the Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC) to annul the operating permits granted to the companies Dreams, Enjoy, and Marina del Sol, which are part of the collusion investigation carried out by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE).
According to the newspaper La Tercera, the Meier Group, which also requests to be considered a “supporting third party” of the FNE in the case, urged the TDLC to “terminate the permits obtained by the Required Companies in the 2020 and 2021 Bidding Processes,” arguing that the collusion prevented them from competing on equal terms.
It should be recalled that, in October 2024, the FNE filed a request with the TDLC against Enjoy, Dreams, and Marina del Sol, accusing them of colluding to manipulate the results of tenders for permits granted in the casino industry. Therefore, millionaire fines and the return of the obtained authorizations are demanded.
In this context, the Meier Group, advised by lawyer Nader Mufdi of FHM Abogados, recalled that Casino del Maule and Casino del Mar were current and potential competitors of Dreams, Enjoy, and Marina del Sol in the 2020 and 2021 Bidding Processes.
“The supernormal rents obtained by the Required Companies from the anti-competitive agreement have allowed them to artificially subsidize their offers in bidding processes organized by the SCJ,” they accused, highlighting that this prevented them from “competing effectively” in said tenders.
Likewise, they stated that “the anti-competitive behaviors of the Request have generated unacceptable levels of uncertainty and have degraded the reputation of the industry, which has directly affected my clients.”
Based on this, they warned that the income obtained through collusion has allowed these companies to make artificially high offers in subsequent processes. For example, they detailed that, in 2023, Dreams made an economic offer almost four times higher than the value offered by the Meier Group, the amount of which has no, and could not have, any economic rationale.
According to the Peruvian group, “the only chance that Casino del Mar, Casino del Maule, and Gran Casino de Talca have to develop economic activities” is for the TDLC to annul the permits obtained under the collusive scheme and convene new tenders under fair competition conditions.
The case is still pending in the TDLC, where the FNE seeks to demonstrate the existence of the agreement between Dreams, Enjoy, and Marina del Sol to divide up casino tenders between 2020 and 2021.
