Genting New York LLC, a unit of Asian casino group Genting Malaysia Bhd, expects to “open the preliminary phase” of its video lottery facilities, to be called Resort World New York, six months after receiving the licence
Genting New York was recommended to redevelop Aqueduct Racetrack and operate New York City’s first slot machine-style “racino,” lottery officials said.
Genting’s bid, which included a US$380 million upfront payment and was the only offer, meets all requirements, Gordon Medenica, the lottery’s director, said today in a letter to Governor David Paterson recommending the group.
The company became the only contender after Penn National Gaming Inc and a group led by SL Green Realty Corp were disqualified for requesting modified terms. At stake is a state- issued license to install 4,500 slot-machine-style video-lottery terminals at the Aqueduct site in the borough of Queens.
“Genting’s proposal was far superior, in concept, scope, detail and execution, to any we have seen in previous rounds of evaluation,” Medenica said in his letter. “Other bidders, and potential bidders, found the State’s requirements too demanding to accept. They made the fatal assumption that the process was still open to maneuvering and negotiation.”
The bid’s success was “vastly reinforced” by the upfront payment that is higher than the US$300 million required, Medenica said.
Seeking Changes
Penn National today released a letter that its lawyers sent the New York State Division of Lottery, asking it reconsider its Aqueduct proposal terms. SL Green released a similar letter last month, protesting what it called the “flawed” proposal requests.
Genting, which parlayed a single hilltop casino near Kuala Lumpur into gambling resorts in Singapore, the Philippines and the UK, is “aggressively” seeking US gaming investments, Justin Leong, head of strategic investments and corporate affairs at parent Genting Bhd, said in a June interview in New York.
With US$1.7 billion in cash and no debt, Genting Malaysia is seeking acquisitions, new markets and potentially a strategic partnership in the US, Leong said. The Kuala Lumpur-based company, which entered the Aqueduct bidding in June, first invested in US casinos last year, buying MGM Resorts International bonds.
New York lawmakers have been peddling the Aqueduct racino deal since 2001. Under Paterson, two groups were awarded and then lost the license.
In March, Aqueduct Entertainment Group was dropped as unqualified after being selected in January. In October 2008, Delaware North, chosen in October 2008, had to give up the license when it failed to obtain required credit. -- Bloomberg
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