GGRAsia – Jimei Intl deal with Macau junket further delayed

Jimei Intl deal with Macau junket further delayed

Jun 22, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The target date on concluding a deal that would allow junket investor Jimei International Entertainment Group Ltd to participate in a VIP gaming promotion business in Macau has been put back for another six months.

The so-called variable interest entity (VIE) agreement with Carlos José Lok, a Macau resident and the sole shareholder and sole director of the Macau gaming promoter concerned – New International Club Ltd – is now due to be concluded by the end of 2016, said Hong Kong-listed Jimei International Entertainment in a filing on Tuesday.

Jimei International Entertainment is the Hong Kong-listed portion of Macau veteran junket investor Jack Lam Yin Lok’s business interests.

Macau-incorporated New International Club is one of the licensed VIP gaming promoters in Macau, according to published information from the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, also known as DICJ.

Tuesday’s filing by Jimei International Entertainment marked the fifth time the deadline has been extended on the VIE agreement with New International Club.

Mr Lam is already involved – via a privately held business called Jimei Group – in junket operations at three Macau casino hotels including Wynn Macau, Grand Lisboa and City of Dreams, according to Jimei Group’s website. The group also runs Jimei Casino next door to the Grand Lapa hotel on Macau peninsula under an SJM Holdings Ltd gaming licence.

Outside Macau, Jimei International has increased its presence in Australia via the signing of a junket arrangement with Australian-listed The Star Entertainment Group Ltd, to promote “not less” than six gaming tables within the latter firm’s The Star Casino in Sydney, according to the junket investor’s 2015 annual report.

In February 2015, Jimei International had signed a similar deal with Star Entertainment’s Australia market rival Crown Resorts Ltd for the promotion of approximately eight to 10 gaming tables at Crown Perth’s casino in Western Australia.

In May 2015, Jimei International had entered into a partnership with NagaCorp Ltd for the promotion of not less than seven gaming tables within the latter’s NagaWorld Casino, located in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh.