GGRAsia – Bobby Soper leaves Mohegan Sun, Etess interim CEO

Bobby Soper leaves Mohegan Sun, Etess interim CEO

Feb 16, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck, World

Bobby Soper has resigned as president and chief executive of U.S. regional tribal casino operator Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the firm announced on Wednesday.

The company – also known as Mohegan Sun – said Mr Soper (pictured in a file photo) presented his resignation “effective immediately” to “pursue other opportunities”.

Former company chief executive Mitchell Grossinger Etess “will act as interim chief executive subject to necessary regulatory filings or approvals”, Mohegan Sun stated in its Wednesday announcement.

Mr Etess had stepped down as chief executive of the firm and retired in 2015, with Mr Soper appointed to replace him.

Mr Soper first joined Mohegan Sun in 2001.

“Bobby actively pursued the growth of the Mohegan gaming enterprise to ensure its viability and survivability in an ever-increasingly competitive industry, and he helped us achieve important gains across the country and around the world,” company chairman Kevin Brown said in a statement included in the announcement.

He added that Mr Soper left Mohegan Sun “on good footing with its lowest debt-leverage ratio” since the 2008 global recession, “combined with the outstanding opportunities presented by a number of management agreements put into place under his stead.”

Mohegan Sun is one of the investors in a new casino resort at Incheon, near South Korea’s capital Seoul. The other consortium partner is South Korean chemicals manufacturer KCC Corp. The Incheon International Airport Corp, the operator of the air hub next door to the project, is also involved in the scheme.

Mr Soper had told GGRAsia in a November interview that the consortium aimed to break ground on the project in the third quarter of 2017 and “open in early 2020.”

The project – Mohegan Sun’s first venture outside North America – would include a foreigner-only casino, three hotel towers with a total of 1,350 rooms, a 15,000-seat arena, a theme park, convention space, and shops and restaurants.