Odds are you’ve never heard of Nomura Securities International. But the consulting firm played a key role behind the scenes in what’s likely to be one of the most consequential decisions Lori Lightfoot ever made as mayor — the selection of Bally’s to own and operate Chicago’s long-awaited casino.
City Hall hired Nomura to solicit casino operators to make their pitches to Lightfoot for the Chicago casino deal and to evaluate their proposals. Bally’s was among those Nomura solicited.
But even as Bally’s was successfully seeking Lightfoot’s blessing, it also was working on a separate, $2.6 billion deal. That was to buy an online British gaming company called Gamesys. As part of that deal, Bally’s would pay off Gamesys’s lenders, according to documents Bally’s filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
