Hong Kong-listed Success Universe Group Ltd, a partner in Macau’s Ponte 16 resort, has negotiated an extension on the maturity date on a shareholder loan. The extension on the resort’s shareholder loan – negotiated with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Ltd – will run to June 2026, according to a Friday filing.
Pier 16 – Property Development Ltd is the controlling entity of Ponte 16, and is owned 51 percent by SJM Investment Ltd – a unit of Macau concession holder SJM Resorts Ltd – and is owned 49 percent by a unit of Success Universe.
The revised loan facility on behalf of Success Universe consists of a transferable term loan and revolving loan in the respective aggregate amounts of HKD160 million (US$20.5 million) and MOP273 million (US$34.0 million) made available to Pier 16 – Property Development.
They are secured by a first mortgage over the property in favour of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau).
Success Universe said in its filing on the matter: “As Pier 16 – Property Development is a 49-percent owned associate of the group, the directors consider that the provision of the 2025 financial assistance, which will facilitate the development and operation of Ponte 16, is beneficial to the group.”
Success Universe has had successive facility agreements to support Ponte 16, since 2012. The most recent one, dated to 2023 and in the aggregate amounts of HKD230 million and MOP273 million, matured on 23 June this year.
As of July 28, the outstanding balance of the Success Universe shareholder’s loan amounted to approximately HKD342 million and the maximum liability of the company under an existing guarantee was HKD490 million.
In July, Success Universe said its aggregate ongoing “financial assistance” for Pier 16 – Property Development might amount to HKD839 million, including a planned one-year extension of a lending facility.
The extension on the maturity date will go beyond the date that the downtown property’s casino must cease to be a so-called Macau satellite operation
The casino at the venue – run under the licence of the SJM group – must cease to be a satellite by the end of this year, under Macau’s revised regulatory framework for gaming. In June, SJM Holdings said it anticipated absorbing Ponte 16’s gaming business into its core operations.
In November last year, the Macau government approved the long-anticipated expansion of non-gaming facilities at Ponte 16, along with a renewed and amended public land concession for the property. Permitted facilities, according to the announcement, include a “commercial building”, a “plaza”, and a “vessel” named Macau Palace.
