Court admits new application and financial plan for large community employer
The survival of Campione’s casino, after three years of closure and various attempts at resuscitation, seemed hanging by a thread, and that thread over time became a slightly more robust rope. Now, the Court of Como has admitted the application and a plan for safe continuity of the Casino, which was filed on April 19th, and once the recovery plan gets approval, this charismatic casino may repone before the end of the year.
Judges Ambrogio Ceron, Marco Mancini and Annamaria Gigli, are said to be positively evaluating the project to reopen the gambling house, which was prepared by Casinò di Campione spa company and the team of professionals that support the company led by Marco Ambrosini in this delicate step, where Vitale-Zane & Co. prepared the industrial and financial plan, DLA Piper, Law Firm of Tolle Pilia & Associati and Ghislanzoni Law Firm for the application of concordat and all legal and labour law aspects, and Studio Zezza for accounting and tax matters.
A decline that began three years ago
The closure of the Casino dates back to July 27, 2018, when the Company, which was one step away from perfecting a debt restructuring agreement with creditors was declared bankrupt. In the following months, the trustees appointed by the Court initiated collective redundancy procedure by cutting off working relations with all 482 employees of the Casino (more than 270 of whom appealed against the dismissal).
In March 2019, following an appeal by the Company, the Municipality and Banca Popolare di Sondrio (among the main creditors of the Casino), gained a decision by the Court of Appeal of Milan which declared the bankruptcy process null and void due to procedural failure. In April 2019 Banca Popolare di Sondrio, however, appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Milan, through an appeal in cassation, arguing that the Casino was not feasible as a public-owned company. In December 2020, the Supreme Court declared Banca Popolare di Sondrio’s appeal inadmissible, the Company then was taken off bankruptcy status and was able to submit the application for a concordat in continuity.
New Organizational Flexibility
A fundamental element of the concordat plan is a greater organizational flexibility and reduction of the staff and related costs, placing themselves at levels consistent with market trends and comparable with those of the Swiss casinos adjacent to Lugano and Mendrisio. The Company plans to reopen the gambling house by the end of the year, Covid allowing, through the initial re-employment of 174 employees, who will be able to increase in the following years according to the trend of activity volumes.
The plan’s guidelines places the emphasis on the introduction of new internal control procedures and functions, providing for the implementation of an adequate risk control, analysis and management system. Non-core functions, including catering, event management and marketing, are also planned to outsource non-core functions to professional operators.
Reimbursement of creditors in 5-years
From the debt point of view, the plan is to repay privileged creditors and 60% of the creditors over five years. The latter will also be granted a right (lasting ten years) to be able to receive any further sums, compatible with the cash generated by the Company, up to a refund of 100%.
History
The main motive in 1917 for opening a casino in Campione, a tiny Italian enclave surrounded by Switzerland, was for the premises to be used as a base for spying on foreign diplomats during the first world war. It closed a couple of years later but reopened in 1933, the same year Benito Mussolini added “d’Italia” to the town’s name to assert its Italian identity.
Over the ensuing decades, Casinò di Campione, the oldest and largest in Europe, brought riches to the town and, as the main employer, became so embedded in its livelihood that when it abruptly closed in 2018 after going bust, the community of fewer than 2,000 was shocked to the core.
As one of the main employers in Campione, the casino is essential to the economy of this Italian spa town and maybe could just make if beyond the first 5-year plan if operated in Twenty-first Century style.
