Clairvest Announces $41.6 Million Investment In Chilean Gaming Entertainment Complex
January 21, 2008 - Clairvest Group Inc.and Clairvest Equity Partners III Limited Partnership today announced a combined $41.6 million investment in a new gaming entertainment complex located adjacent to the city of Concepción, Chile.
Plans for the complex include a casino, hotel, entertainment theatre, restaurants and family entertainment facility. Construction of the greenfield project is well under way, with completion of the casino scheduled for August 2008 and the balance of the project shortly thereafter.
Clairvest Group is contributing 25% and CEP III is contributing 75% of the $41.6 million investment, which results in a combined interest of 50% in Casino Marina del Sol. The other 50% is held by Empresas Valmar, a well established local real estate company.
Casino Marina del Sol is Clairvest’s third gaming investment and the first gaming investment in CEP III. Gateway Casinos of Burnaby, B.C. generated pre-tax proceeds of 8.7 times Clairvest’s initial investment during the investment’s eight-year life, for a pre-tax internal rate of return of 50%. In doing so it grew to become one of the largest casino operators in Canada. In 2007, Clairvest and CEP funded $22.5 million in Grey Eagle Casino and Bingo, which recently opened near Calgary.
In recent years, Chile has benefited from substantial investments by companies and institutions of all sizes from a number of countries, especially Canada. The rising level of investment stems in part from a substantial measure of international confidence in the Chilean government. In 2006, Chile ranked 20th out of 146 countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, tied with the United States and Belgium. Canada was ranked ninth, while Finland was first.
In December 2007, the 30 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) invited Chile and four other countries to open discussions for membership. According to the OECD, Chile’s economic and social policies have become a landmark for the region. OECD was created in 1960 by 20 countries and since 1999 it has not allowed new members. If this initiative is consummated, Chile would be the first South American nation to join OECD.