GGRAsia – Imperial Pacific aims for temporary Saipan casino this year

Imperial Pacific aims for temporary Saipan casino this year

Mar 05, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd said it has entered into a written amendment to its casino licence agreement with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It will allow the company to establish and operate a “temporary casino” in Garapan, on the island of Saipan.

It is Imperial Pacific’s intention “to launch the temporary casino in 2015,” the firm said in a filing on Wednesday.

The stopgap project however is still subject to oversight by CNMI’s Casino Commission “for proper regulation of the temporary casino and the Saipan Casino Law,” the company added.

In Wednesday’s filing, Imperial Pacific also said it would “seek further legal advice” before starting operations at the temporary casino in order to comply with all applicable laws and listing rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Imperial Pacific – which is also an investor in the profit stream of Macau junket firm Hengsheng Group – had previously said it would invest US$7.1 billion in the development of a casino resort on the Pacific island of Saipan, with a first phase for the resort to be ready by 2016.

The firm in December raised some funds toward costs of development on Saipan.