Marseille Administrative Court cancels Partouche’s 11-year concession
After the legal wrangles of the Berck-sur-Mer casino, La Ciotat in the French region of Bouches-du-Rhône appears to be emerging as a new conflict zone between Infiniti Casino, via the company of the Grand Casino de Dinant (Belgium), and the Partouche group.
The third chamber of the Marseille Administrative Court has decided to cancel, effective December 31, the 11-year concession granted to the Parisian group in October 2024, which began on January 1, 2025.
After an initial procedure was invalidated by the administrative court, following two parallel appeals from the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture and the Grand Casino de Dinant company, the town hall had to launch a new call for tenders for a 10-year concession. At the close of the application period on July 22, 2024, only Pleinair Casino, the existing operator of the establishment, had submitted a bid.
Emboldened by its initial legal victory, Infiniti Casino again challenged this new concession before the administrative court, arguing that the new specifications proposed by the La Ciotat town hall did not ensure equal treatment of the candidates for operating the casino, which is why the company had not submitted a bid. In a letter sent to the municipality at the end of June 2024, the Grand Casino de Dinant company explained that it was not participating in the tender process ‘due to violations of the principles of free access to public procurement and equality between candidates.’ The issue at hand was the owner of the casino’s building, Partouche Immobilier, a subsidiary of the group of the same name, which could potentially give an advantage in awarding a lease to Pleinair Casino.
As reported by Journal des Casinos, the administrative court did not deem this possibility sufficient to ‘annul the procedure for awarding the public service delegation for the management and operation of the La Ciotat municipal casino.’ The new concession agreement stipulated the signing of a temporary occupancy agreement between Partouche Immobilier and the future concessionaire, including if it was the Pleinair company. This agreement, which guarantees ‘the provision of the building housing the casino for the duration of the concession, in exchange for a fee of €1,700,000,’ allowed the court to conclude that ‘all candidates are subject to the same conditions of occupancy of the building under the temporary occupancy agreement, including the Pleinair casino company,’ thus rejecting the request of the Grand Casino de Dinant company.
The Marseille Administrative Court said: “The premises are exclusively intended for use as an authorized casino, subject to an annual principal fee of €1,700,000 excluding VAT, plus VAT at the applicable legal rate.”
In light of these elements, the judges determined that “given the close economic ties between Pleinair Casino and Partouche Immobilier and the annual amount of the occupancy fee paid by the former to the latter, it must be considered that one of the parties to the disputed concession agreement, namely Pleinair Casino, did not enter into the agreement or had contracted under substantially different conditions if the contract had stipulated that the building was the property of the municipality.”
“This must therefore be considered as having exerted a fundamental influence on the choice of the winning company.” They also considered that the location of the casino’s operation is an essential element of the agreement. Consequently, Article 3 of the agreement’s specifications is “decisive in its conclusion and therefore constitutes an indivisible clause of its other stipulations.” As a result, “the annulment of this clause for these reasons necessarily implies the annulment of the disputed operating agreement, since, concerning a non-essential service, and given that a new, regular tendering procedure can take place.”
This new decision and the cancellation of the agreement will see the municipality of La Ciotat launch a new concession notice shortly for the operation of its gaming establishment.
The post Licence for La Ciotat casino to be re-tendered following cancellation of Partouche’s Pleinair Casino licence appeared first on G3 Newswire.
Marseille Administrative Court cancels Partouche’s 11-year concession After the legal wrangles of the Berck-sur-Mer casino, La Ciotat in the French region of Bouches-du-Rhône appears to be emerging as a new conflict zone between Infiniti Casino, via the company of the Grand Casino de Dinant (Belgium), and the Partouche group. The third chamber of the Marseille…
The post Licence for La Ciotat casino to be re-tendered following cancellation of Partouche’s Pleinair Casino licence appeared first on G3 Newswire.