The chairman of Malaysia’s Genting group, Lim Kok Thay, is to aid the balance sheet of casino cruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd to the tune of SGD10.6 million (US$7.9 million) by purchase of sale shares in Grand Banks Yachts Ltd, a Singapore-listed firm with units involved in manufacturing and selling luxury yachts worldwide.
Mr Lim is the chairman and chief executive of Genting Hong Kong, and a substantial shareholder in the company. Genting Hong Kong said the proceeds of the disposal would be used as working capital of the group.
The disposal – amounting to a 26.8 percent stake in Grand Banks Yachts, being all of the equity interest held by the seller – is due to take place within three days of Wednesday’s agreement, or a date “mutually agreed by the buyer and the seller,” said a filing that day to the Hong Kong bourse by Genting Hong Kong.
The seller is Exa Ltd, an Isle of Man firm and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong. The total consideration is “payable in full and in cash at completion” of the deal, said Genting Hong Kong.
The disposal would “enable the group to offload non-core assets and investment and provide required liquidity to the group,” amid what Genting Hong Kong described as “the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic” that “has caused an acute disruption to businesses worldwide and led the cruise and tourism industry to a sudden halt since February 2020”.
Genting Hong Kong said in a March 12 filing it expected an unaudited loss of at least US$1.5 billion for the year to December 31, 2020, compared to a US$159-million loss a year earlier.
