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Politics
Chicago

City consultant for casino choice had financial ties to Bally’s

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s selection over four other proposals came after the firm that solicited proposals stood to gain from a separate Bally’s transaction

From left: Nomura Holdings CEO Kentaro Okuda and former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot (Getty, Nomura Holdings)

From left: Nomura Holdings CEO Kentaro Okuda and former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot (Getty, Nomura Holdings)

A consultant used by former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot during her casino development selection is coming under scrutiny for having financial ties to the winning bidder, Bally’s.

The consulting firm Nomura Securities International was hired by the Lightfoot administration to solicit casino operators to make their pitches to the city and evaluate their proposals, and also stood to be paid back as a lender to a British company Bally’s was working to buy, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

While the gaming company pursued a deal to build a $1.7 billion entertainment complex on the Freedom Center Printing Plant in River West, the consultant was also involved in a separate $2.6 billion deal in which Bally’s bought an online British gaming company called Gamesys. Bally’s had to reimburse Gamesys’ two lenders $220 million as part of the deal, and one of those lenders was Nomura.

Nomura, whose CEO is Kentaro Okuda, was able to forgo the city’s normal procurement process and worked behind the scenes with Lightfoot’s administration for at least nine months. Eventually, it scored a $1.5 million deal with City Hall for its efforts to bring the first casino to Chicago, the outlet reported.

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Lightfoot’s staff said Nomura “held no substantive role” in choosing Bally’s plan over competing bidders like Hard Rock Casino and Rivers Casino.

A Nomura spokesperson said the firm simply solicited bidders and didn’t make any recommendations to Lightfoot as to what company she should choose. A Bally’s spokesperson said that while Nomura was one of the lenders tied to the Gamesys acquisition, the casino company never borrowed funds from Nomura Holdings and there’s no existing relationship between the two entities.

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Meanwhile, Bally’s is currently awaiting final approval from the Illinois Gaming Board to run a temporary casino that’s under construction at Medinah Temple in River North, before starting its complex at the Freedom Center, where the Chicago Tribune’s printing plant now operates.

— Quinn Donoghue

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Bally’sCasinoFreedom CenterHotel MarketLori LightfootNomura Securities InternationalPoliticsRetail MarketRiver West