Asian casino operator and developer Silver Heritage Group Ltd said in a Thursday filing that it was paying back up to US$6.8 million of its US$18-million worth of outstanding bonds, and raising at least circa US$8.4 million via an entitlement offer.
The firm told the Australian Securities Exchange it proposed to issue on September 19 nearly 359.5 million shares via an offer to institutional investors. Just under 227.4 million shares would also be issued to retail investors on September 28, it added.
The price for the entitlement offer overall will be AUD0.02 (US$0.014) per new share, to raise a minimum of approximately AUD11.7 million, the company said. Under the provisions of the offer, the final amount raised could be as much as AUD13.1 million
The purpose of the share offers was to “repay upcoming amortisation payments and interest and for working capital purposes,” the firm told the bourse.
Mike Bolsover, managing director and chief executive of Silver Heritage, told GGRAsia that the early redemption of the bonds for bondholder OCP Asia did not carry any financial penalties for his company.
He stated: “It means deleveraging the business and giving significant headroom with regard to bond repayments and amortisation as the business continues its growth trajectory.”
In Thursday’s filing, Silver Heritage said additionally that the renegotiated terms extend the maturity date of the bonds by an additional 19 months, to April 2, 2021. The new terms also extend the future scheduled repayments, so that no fixed amortisation repayments are now due within the next 19 months.
The filing added that the existing financial covenants have been replaced by setting a minimum target for group adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
The firm said in its interim results filed on Monday that it had been ramping up operations at its first purpose-built, self-managed property, Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, in Nepal.
Tiger Palace, which had a revised capital budget of AUD70.3 million (US$50.6 million), started gaming operations in December.
Silver Heritage’s shares had been suspended on Wednesday from quotation on the Australian Securities Exchange pending an announcement on capital raising and amendments to the terms of bonds.
