Two bidders compete for Chile’s Puerto Varas casino license

Chile’s casino license tender for Puerto Varas has attracted two bids, submitted by Inversiones y Turismo Puerto Varas S.A., linked to local casino operator Dreams, and Sociedad Quiquilhue S.A., a company associated with Peru-based Corporación Meier.

The Superintendence of Casinos and Gaming received the technical and economic proposals during a public hearing held on Sunday at its headquarters in Santiago, formally concluding the submission stage of the municipality’s first casino license process. The deadline for submissions was January 19.

The tender was formally launched in April 2025 through Exempt Resolutions No. 394 and 398, which approved the technical bases and opened the call for bids. The process was later adjusted through additional resolutions issued in June and October 2025, alongside a clarification circular issued by the regulator.

According to the regulator, the bid opening ceremony was carried out under strict procedural controls and overseen by a notary public acting as faith minister. Following the close of the session, the sealed envelopes containing the economic proposals were placed in secure custody at BancoEstado, in line with Chile’s casino licensing rules.

The regulator will now proceed with the technical evaluation stage, which has a maximum duration of 120 days. The assessment period must be completed by 10 July 2026, after which the economic proposals will be reviewed.

Located in Chile’s Los Lagos Region, Puerto Varas is considered a strategically significant market within the country’s tightly regulated casino sector. The available license represents an opportunity either for the continuity of operations by the current market participant or for the entry of a new internationally backed operator, subject to the outcome of the evaluation process.