The company behind plans to redevelop the Canberra Casino has been given an extension to finalise its proposal, after initially being told it had one month to progress its multimillion dollar unsolicited bid.
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The ACT government wrote to Aquis Entertainment last month, giving them until May 14 to progress the unsolicited bid it brought forward in 2015 for a $330 million rebuild of the ageing casino in exchange for permission to operate poker machines.
But on Monday, an ACT government spokesman confirmed the government had offered Aquis an extension to provide the financial information requested in order to progress its unsolicited bid for the Casino.
"The extension was granted after the ACT government received interim correspondence from Aquis requesting clarification on certain matters related to their proposal," he said.
"An extension is considered reasonable in the circumstances and it is expected there will be ongoing dialogue with Aquis on this matter."
It is understood no new deadline for the information has been set, although the government will work with the company on new timeframes for information.
In issuing the deadline to Aquis, ACT Gaming Minister Gordon Ramsay said the government needed to know how many machines the casino planned on operating. A consultant is also looking at how the number of pokies can be cut to 4000, in line with Labor's powersharing deal with the Greens.
Under new laws introduced last year, the casino will have to forfeit one in three gaming machine licences it buys.
That could mean 130 licences taken out of circulation if the casino chooses to operate its maximum 200 machines, a number Mr Ramsay said at the time could make a "significant difference ... given we're reducing the number of authorisations by 980".
But Aquis said the government needed to be "realistic in its expectations in relation to the detail and speed at which information can be provided in the face of significant commercial uncertainty".
However, clubs are facing being forced to surrender their poker machine machines in order to meet the 4000 cap.
Only 38 poker machines licences have been surrendered since the poker machine trading scheme began, with 4985 authorisations still available and 4549 machines still operating on gaming floors.
In an update to the stock market last month, Aquis said it still planned to transform the casino into a "first-tier" leisure and nightlife precinct, and was currently considering completing the redevelopment in two stages over five years.
However it noted it would need funding in addition to its current cash at hand in order to complete the redevelopment.
Aquis also said while the new casino laws provided a framework for introducing electronic gaming machines to the casino, detail on the redevelopment milestones needed to secure the licences was not yet forthcoming.
