GGRAsia – GEN HK reveals electronic games deal for cruise casinos

GEN HK reveals electronic games deal for cruise casinos

Nov 10, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Casino ship operator and gaming investor Genting Hong Kong Ltd said it has signed a “master agreement” with a connected company to buy electronic equipment and devices for electronic games for the cruise lines operated by the group.

Genting Hong Kong – a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd – is buying the equipment from FreeStyle Gaming Ltd. FreeStyle Gaming is a subsidiary of Singapore-based Resorts World Inc Pte Ltd, a company controlled in equal proportion by Genting Bhd and by the group’s chairman Lim Kok Thay.

The agreement has an aggregate cap of US$9.9 million and is valid until December 31, 2018, Genting Hong Kong said in a filing on Tuesday.

The agreement states an annual cap of US$4.2 million for 2016, including transactions that took place prior to the agreement becoming effective on November 8. The annual caps for 2017 and 2018 were set at US$3.6 million and US$2.1 million, respectively.

Genting Hong Kong has accelerated its expansion plans for its cruise business and has developed a three-brand cruise portfolio with focus on different market segments: Crystal Cruises for what it terms the ultra-luxury segment; Dream Cruises for what it describes as the premium segment; and Star Cruises for what it defines as the contemporary segment.

The first of the Dream Cruises’ vessels – the Genting Dream (pictured) – is due to make its maiden voyage on November 13 from its home port of Guangzhou, in China’s Guangdong province.

Genting Hong Kong said the deal with FreeStyle Gaming is in line with the company’s strategy of diversifying the offering of entertainment and facilities onboard its cruise ships “by installing various electronic games”. The firm said the deal would help it “reduce manpower”, “broaden the target age range” of its customers and “maintain the competitiveness” of the cruise lines it operates.

“Putting in place the master agreement should aid the company by putting in place an umbrella arrangement to regulate the ongoing connected transactions between the parties,” said Genting Hong Kong in the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.