Bid Deadline for PLCB Auction of Expired Restaurant Licenses Fast Approaching

Bids for 25 licenses in 25 counties due September 16

Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) reminds interested parties that bids for 25 expired restaurant licenses in the upcoming license auction are due by noon Monday, Sept. 16.

This auction includes one license in each of the following 25 counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Blair, Clearfield, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Forest, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Pike, Somerset, Warren, Wayne, and Westmoreland.

The ninth auction will again use a sealed bid process, which has so far resulted in winning bids on 257 licenses offered in previous auctions. Bids will be opened Thursday, Sept. 19, 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 percent of the total bid amount – whichever is higher – to avoid frivolous and underfunded bids.

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.

Lists of winning bids from each of the eight previous auctions are available on the license auction page of the PLCB website. Auction revenue recognized thus far from all previous auctions totals $28.1 million, while another $2.3 million remains in escrow, pending license approvals.