Lawrence Ho firm gains board control at Russia casino

Apr 15, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Summit Ascent Russia Ltd – a wholly owned unit of Lawrence Ho Yau Lung’s Russian casino investment vehicle Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd – is to have a majority of the directors on the board of the joint venture firm – Oriental Regent Ltd – controlling the Tigre de Cristal casino project.

At the same time the results of Oriental Regent will be consolidated – for accounting purposes – into the financial statements of Summit Ascent Holdings, rather than being accounted for on an equity basis. The group said so in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

In a March filing Summit Ascent Holdings had said its 60 percent interest in the Tigre de Cristal casino resort in the Russian Far East generated adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of HKD14.3 million (US$1.8 million) in the period from October 8 to December 31.

The property (pictured) had a soft launch on October 8 and an official one on November 11.

In its latest filing Summit Ascent Holdings said it had noted “increases in the price and trading volume of the company’s shares” occurring on Thursday, but added the directors were not aware of any reasons for such movements.

In Thursday trading the stock had closed at HKD2.12 (US$0.272) per unit, up 30.1 percent from Wednesday’s close of HKD1.63. At the end of Friday’s trading session, Summit Ascent Holdings’ stock had settled to HKD1.89, a fall of 10.4 percent on the day.

The Thursday filing said that Summit Ascent Russia is to have four out of the seven directors that will sit on the newly enlarged board of Oriental Regent Ltd. It previously was entitled to nominate two of the five directors of that firm.

Oriental Regent developed and operates the Tigre de Cristal casino property at the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone (IEZ) near the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok. G1 Entertainment LLC, fully owned by Oriental Regent, holds the gaming licence for the property.

Oriental Regent is 60 percent owned by Summit Ascent Russia. Firich Enterprises Co Ltd, a Taiwan-listed maker of electronic gaming machines, has a 25-percent stake in the firm.

The other equity partners in Oriental Regent are: City Wealth Group Ltd, a firm owned by a trust set up by businessman Oleg Drozdov that holds 7.5 percent; New Crescent Investments Ltd – controlled by Mr Ho’s Melco International Development Ltd –  with 5 percent; and Perfect Giant Investments Ltd with 2.5 percent.

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