Greece’s top administrative court rejected on Thursday an appeal brought by US gaming and hospitality group Hard Rock International in relation to the rejection of the company’s bid to build and operate a luxury casino resort near Athens.
The Thursday ruling paved the way for the Hellenic Gaming Commission to proceed with the casino tender and unseal the other participant’s technical and financial offers, according to sources close to the process.
Hard Rock seeks permission to develop and run a casino resort that will be part of a larger multi-purpose complex planned to be built at the site of the former Ellinikon International Airport near the Greek capital.
The Florida-based gaming and hospitality company and rival casino and hotel operator Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment were the only two interested bidders to submit offers to the Hellenic Gaming Commission before the early October 2019 deadline.
Regulator Rejected Hard Rock’s Bid
The Greek gambling regulator announced in January that Mohegan’s bid would be the only one to move forward to the next stage of the tender process and that Hard Rock was disqualified from the race.
According to local news outlets, the Gaming Commission rejected Hard Rock’s bid because its application had important information missing and a letter of guarantee that the company had the necessary finances to build a casino resort as part of the Hellinikon complex was short by four days of the length prescribed by the regulatory body.
In addition, the Gaming Commission is believed to have told the casino operator that it lacked the experience to materialize a project of this scale.
Hard Rock Moved to Appeal the Decision
Hard Rock said in January that it was disappointed by the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s decision to reject its bid and by the whole selection process. The company also revealed that it would bring the matter to Greek and even to European courts.
The casino operator filed its motion to the Greek Council of State, the country’s top ranking administrative court, on April 27. It expressed confidence in the success of its challenge.
According to Hard Rock, the Hellinikon casino resort tender was mired by a conflict of interest since the law firm that had been hired to advice the Hellenic Gaming Commission and the Hellinikon IRC Tender Committee had been representing a member of Mohegan’s team since 2008.
Hard Rock also told media outlets that it notified all involved parties about the possible conflict of interest but little attention was paid to its findings, according to the Florida-based gaming and hospitality company.
The operator maintains that it “firmly believes it was wrongly disqualified based on an inaccurate rationale and a clear conflict of interest” and that it would take all the necessary legal steps to “see that a fair process for the tender is completed and that the technical and financial sections of the submission are opened for both parties to ensure a transparent outcome.”
Hard Rock can and probably will take further action against the casino tender after Thursday’s ruling of the Council of State. However, as mentioned above, said ruling authorizes the Hellenic Gaming Commission to open the other bidder’s technical and financial offers.
Mohegan said earlier this week that it remains fully committed to building and running the casino at the Hellinikon despite the financial woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Naming the casino tender winner will allow the Greek government to lease the site of the defunct airport to Lamda Development. The major real estate developer, backed by Gulf and Chinese investors, plans to build a sprawling €8 billion integrated resort with residential towers, hotels, entertainment venues, retail space, dining outlets and bars, and wellness facilities, among other amenities.
Lamda’s mega scheme will create one of Europe’s biggest tourist resorts, but the start of construction has been delayed for years due to heavy bureaucracy and other snags.
The winning casino bidder will be required to build a resort worth at least €1 billion with a casino with at least 1,200 slot machines and 120 gaming tables, hotel, and different other facilities.
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