GGRAsia – Oshidori quitting Nagasaki RFP no impact on Mohegan

Oshidori quitting Nagasaki RFP no impact on Mohegan

Aug 11, 2021 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

United States-based tribal casino operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment says it does not expect any “financial impact” on the company from it no longer being in the running – via a consortium – for a casino licence in the Japanese prefecture of Nagasaki.

Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment had paired with Oshidori International Holdings Ltd for the Nagasaki bid.

In a Tuesday announcement, the Nagasaki authorities said the consortium led by Oshidori was “runner up” in a request-for-proposal (RFP) process launched by Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture. Last week Oshidori had said it was considering withdrawing from the selection process, questioning whether it was being “conducted in an ethical manner” .

“You may have recently read that Oshidori has withdrawn its bid for an integrated resort in Nagasaki,” said Mohegan Sun’s president and chief executive Raymond Pineault (pictured in a file photo) on Tuesday, during the company’s earnings call for the quarter ended June 30.

He added that the decision to withdrawn from the RFP process had been made “solely” by Oshidori . Mr Pineault added that the withdrawal would “not have any significant financial impact” on Mohegan Sun.

“We were providing operational expertise and assistance for the RFP process and did not anticipate any meaningful cash flows or expenses related to this project,” added the executive.

Nagasaki prefecture said on Tuesday it had selected Casinos Austria International Japan Inc as its “priority” choice as partner for the local government’s tilt at having a casino resort.

During the earnings call, Mr Pineault said Mohegan Sun had made “meaningful strides” towards completing financing for its Incheon casino project in South Korea. He added that the group remained “optimistic” that it could ramp up construction later this year.

Mohegan Gaming is developing the Inspire Entertainment Resort, a complex with a foreigner-only casino, near Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main air hub.

The firm had confirmed in a March 31 announcement that the South Korean authorities had granted it a one-year postponement on the first-phase opening of Inspire.

Mohegan Sun said on Tuesday it achieved net revenues of US$328.2 million for the three months ended June 30, a 206.1 percent year-on-year increase. Income from operations stood at US$64.0 million for the reporting period versus a loss of US$20.5 million in the prior-year period.