HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board on Wednesday issued an invitation for bids to award 20 expired restaurant licenses in the 12th license auction since Act 39 became effective in August 2016.
The auction includes one license in 20 counties across the state, including a license in Lebanon County and another in Berks County, the PLCB said.
Bids for the restaurant license auction are due by noon Monday, Sept. 25, PLCB said. The auction will use a sealed bid process. Bids will be opened Wednesday, Sept. 27, and auction winners will be determined soon thereafter.
The minimum bid for each license is $25,000, and each bid must be accompanied by a bid surety of $5,000 or 5% of the total bid amount – whichever is higher – to avoid frivolous and underfunded bids, PLCB said.
The highest responsive bidder for each license will win the right to submit an application for the license to the PLCB within six months of auction award. If bid payment is not received within two weeks of auction award, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to apply for the license.
Bids will be held in escrow by the PLCB, pending approval of the license application.
The Invitation for Bids is available online. Once on the page, scroll down to “Related Solicitation Files,” and click the links to view.
Bidders with questions regarding this invitation for bids must submit inquiries via email toRA-LBLicenseAuction@pa.gov by noon on Friday, Aug. 25. Questions and answers will be posted to the Department of General Services e-marketplace website by 3:00 PM Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Lists of winning bids from each of the 11 previous auctions are available on the license auction page of the PLCB website.
Auction revenue recognized thus far from all previous auctions totals $34.2 million, while another $1.9 million remains in escrow, pending license approvals.
