Genting HK loan as part of Dream Cruises stake sale

Sep 24, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Genting Hong Kong Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed operator of casino cruise ships and shipyards, says it is to provide a loan to its unit Dream Cruises Holding Ltd as part of the sale of a stake in that subsidiary.

The information was included in a Tuesday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Previously, on August 6, the company had announced the sale of up to 35 percent of the equity interest in its unit Dream Cruises Holding Ltd for up to US$489 million.

Genting Hong Kong had said it would sell first at least 24.5 percent of the stock of Dream Cruises, and that it intended to dispose of more shares in the company, up to a maximum of 35 percent. The buyer is a subsidiary of TPG Darting Ltd, owned by TPG Capital Asia and Growth Funds.

The sale of the first part of the stake includes a condition for Dream Cruises to obtain a shareholder loan from Genting Hong Kong in the amount of US$785 million. Such loan shall be fully drawn prior to the closing of that deal, according to Tuesday’s filing.

Dream Cruises should also guarantee a revolving facility from Genting Hong Kong of up to US$50 million, added the filing.

Genting Hong Kong said that given that the conditions to close the initial deal “have not been fully satisfied and/or waived … the date of the initial closing has not yet been determined”.

Genting Hong Kong has eight cruise ships – in three different segments – containing casinos run by its Resorts World at Sea business, which have table games and slot machines. The company also has a stake in the Resorts World Manila casino resort in the Philippines.

The company has in recent years 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.

In Tuesday’s filing, Genting Hong Kong said it expected net proceeds from the disposal of the stake – after deducting the estimated expenses – of approximately US$481.2 million.

The company also revealed that on August 16 it had signed loan agreements amounting to EUR2.6 billion (US$2.86 billion) with a consortium led by Germany-based KfW IPEX-Bank for construction and post-delivery financing of two new Global Class vessels for its Dream Cruises business.

Genting Hong Kong said earlier this month that it had started construction of a second Global Class ship, “intended for the fast-growing Asian market” and likely to be delivered by 2022. The company is already building a first Global Class ship, due to be delivered in 2021.

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