GGRAsia – Frontier Capital drops deal for lottery licence in Mongolia

Frontier Capital drops deal for lottery licence in Mongolia

Feb 23, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Frontier Capital Group Ltd – which last month won shareholder approval for the acquisition of Hotel Stotsenberg and Casablanca Casino in the Philippines – on Tuesday announced that it has terminated an agreement to acquire the licence to operate the Mongolian National Lottery.

Such licence would have given the firm the right to establish the first casino in Mongolia, Frontier Capital had previously said.

The Australia-listed firm said it had received notice from the vendor stating that a number of conditions required for completing the acquisition deal for the lottery licence in Mongolia would “not be satisfied within the period provided for in the agreement”.

“The agreement provides that the conditions precedent cannot be waived and the company and the vendor have agreed that the agreement be terminated,” Frontier Capital said in a filing on Tuesday to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Frontier Capital announced in July the proposed acquisition of the licence to operate the Mongolian National Lottery. The firm would acquire the companies that hold the special licence to operate the lottery business in Mongolia. Such acquisition would also give Frontier Capital the right to establish the first casino in Mongolia, subject to regulatory approvals, the firm said in previous filings.

Completion of the deal was originally targeted for March 2016, subject to renewal of the licence to operate the lottery for a further three years starting this month.

Proposed casino legislation has reportedly been submitted to the Mongolian parliament for review in early 2015 but is said to be still under consideration.

Frontier Capital has said that the Hotel Stotsenberg and Casablanca Casino business in the Philippines “will be the primary focus of the company”.

The firm in January won approval from its shareholders for the US$26-million acquisition of the casino scheme in the Clark Freeport Zone, in the Philippines. The company forecasts profit to double at the casino hotel after completion of an announced expansion plan.