Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment lodges official Inspire Athens bid

A consortium being led by Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment has reportedly lodged an official bid worth €150 million ($177 million) for the license to build and operate an integrated casino resort near the Greek capital of Athens.

According to a Thursday report from the Reuters news service published by Yahoo! Finance, the Connecticut-based entity is the casino-operating arm of the United States’ federally-recognized Mohegan Tribe and is partnering with local construction conglomerate GEK Terna in hopes of securing the 30-year license.

Competing concern:

The news service reported that Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment’s prospects of acquiring the right to bring an integrated casino resort to the site of the country’s former Ellinikon International Airport was considerably strengthened in January after the nine-member Hellenic Gaming Commission unanimously rebuffed a rival plan from Hard Rock International.

Reuters reported that the tribal casino firm is now purportedly hopeful of being granted official permission to add a large gambling-friendly facility to the 1,532-acre seaside site currently being redeveloped as part of an extensive €8 billion ($9.4 billion) plan by prominent Greek real estate company Lamda Development with foreign backing from Abu Dhabi’s Eagle Hills enterprise and giant Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group.

Exceeding expectations:

The news service reported that the Development and Investment Minister for Greece, Adonis Georgiadis, recently told a local television broadcaster that Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment was only required to bid €30 million ($35.4 million) for the casino license but instead had ‘offered a lump sum of €150 million’ on Wednesday. He purportedly moreover detailed that the operator will now be asked to sign a contract for the project, which has been dubbed Inspire Athens, before having the whole arrangement approved by parliament and a team of local auditors.