Chile’s Enjoy names new CEO amid another restructuring
It’s the casino operator’s second restructuring in two years.
Chile.- The Chilean casino operator Enjoy has announced a second restructuring in two years. It said it had was unable to pay creditors due to liquidity issues as a result of disappointing post-pandemic growth. The company previously completed a reorganisation and bankruptcy proceedings in February 2022.
CFO Esteban Rigo-Righi Baillie has taken over as CEO following the resignation of Eliseo Gracia Martinez. He will remain CFO at the same time. Shares fell by up to 60 per cent when the market opened yesterday (Tuesday).
Enjoy said in a statement: “It has been determined that this is the best alternative to provide sustainability to the company and create new bases to adequately propel it into the future taking into account that there are growth projects that have not been possible, mainly due to restrictions in liquidity and the slow post-pandemic recovery.”
Enjoy’s financial woes
In September, Grupo Enjoy announced the commencement of a strategic review led by the financial advisory ASSET Chile SA, with the option of a sale on the table. In October, it was reported that Mexico’s Logrand Entertainment could buy Grupo Enjoy at a discount price.
The move followed a block on Enjoy’s proposed merger with the other Chilean casino giant, Dream. Enjoy’s biggest creditors, the funds Euroamerica and Penta Vida, were in favour of a sale following the block imposed on the Dreams merger by Chile’s Competition Authority, the FNE.
The regulator had noted that the combined company would have had a market share of over 75 per cent and around 60 per cent of all of Chile’s land-based gaming licences. It also claimed that those involved in striking the deal had “colluded to secure favourable outcomes” for themselves. Dreams CEO Jaime Wilhelm stands charged with alleged market manipulation and investor fraud.
Enjoy has eight hotel casinos in Chile plus a property in Mendoza, Argentina, and Enjoy Punta del Este Resort y Casino in Uruguay.
