Macau junket operator Suncity Group Holdings Limited has completed the purchase of Vietnam-based integrated resort developer Star Admiral Limited after the finalization of the deal had been delayed several times.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Suncity Chairman Alvin Chau Cheok Wa said that the deal was closed on Tuesday, August 28 and that Star Admiral is now wholly owned by his company.
The transaction was originally supposed to be completed late last year, but the involved parties postponed the move multiple times over the past several months. Suncity informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that time was required for certain unspecified conditions to be fulfilled.
The Macau-based junket operator agreed to buy the Vietnamese integrated resort developer for a total consideration of HK$600 million, of which HK$303 million was paid with a promissory note worth HK$303 million, while the rest of the purchase price was covered through the issuance of convertible bonds worth HK$297 million.
Suncity subsidiary Goal Summit Limited acquired the entire issued share capital, associated obligations, debts and liabilities of Star Admiral.
It is important to note that the acquisition deal secures Suncity’s participation in an ambitious integrated resort project currently in the works in Hoi An South, Quang Nam Province.
More About the Hoi An Casino Resort Scheme
Star Admiral participates in a $4-billion scheme for the development of an integrated resort with different gambling and non-gambling options in Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province. The project also involves local asset manager VinaCapital Group and a Vietnamese subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.
The project is planned to be carried out in seven phases over a period of 13 years. The first phase is slated for 2019 completion and launch. That first phase of the integrated resort, which will occupy a total area of 985.5 hectares once fully built and operational, will include a casino, hotel rooms and suites, a condominium hotel, and a golf course, among other facilities. The casino portion of the resort will include 140 gaming tables and 1,000 slot machines. Developers have previously said that another 1,000 slot machines could be brought on the gaming floor with future phases of the project.
According to Augustine Ha Ton Vinh, a scholar who has advising the government of Vietnam on its planned gambling expansion, the Hoi An casino might be among the country’s casino facilities that will admit nationals.
A Government Decree that took effect in January started a three-year pilot program that will allow Vietnamese citizens to play at a select number of the nation’s casinos. Nationals will have to be aged 21 and over and to have a monthly income of VND10 million in order to be allowed to gamble at local casinos. The three-year program aims to collect information about the gambling behavior of residents of the country and whether a permanent legislation allowing them to visit local casinos should be introduced.
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The post Macau Junket Finally Acquires Vietnamese Casino Resort Developer after Multiple Delays appeared first on Casino News Daily.
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