Eden Leisure Group, named as the preferred bidder for a new casino licence, has filed a protest in court claiming the accusations made by Dragonara Gaming Ltd, which placed second, are frivolous and unfounded.

Eden Leisure is denying that the decision to make it preferred bidder, which followed a competitive process by the privatisation unit, is strange or incorrect.

The De Cesare family-owned group said its proposal was deemed as the best as it was the most advantageous in terms of economic growth, investment and employment.

Dragonara Gaming, operators of the Dragonara Casino, is claiming, on the other hand that the process was vitiated and lacked transparency. It also said the award of the licence to Eden Leisure was unmerited.

Dragonara is claiming it should have been granted the licence because it made a higher, one-off financial offer. However, the Economy Ministry countered by saying that it considered other factors before taking a decision – such as the overall value of the bid particularly in terms of tax generation.

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