GGRAsia – Louis XIII placements raise US$211 million gross

Louis XIII placements raise US$211 million gross

Dec 22, 2014 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

An exercise by Louis XIII Holdings Ltd involving the issuing of placing shares and convertible bonds raised just under HK$1.64 billion (US$211.5 million) the firm said in a filing on Friday.

The company – which is developing a boutique casino on the border of Cotai and Coloane in Macau – had suspended trading in its stock at 9am that day pending the announcement of the results of the fundraising exercise. Trading in its shares restarted at 9am today.

Capital costs of the project were last year estimated at US$800 million. On November 20, Louis XIII Holdings said it was looking to raise some new money – some of which would be used for “design upgrades related to the fit out of the interiors of the hotel development”.

Casino Louis XIII will operate 66 gaming tables (50 premium mass and 16 VIP) according to previous regulatory filings. It will do so under a so-called ‘service agreement’ with an existing Macau concessionaire or sub-concessionaire, although the identity of the licence provider has not so far been confirmed by the holding company.

On November 20 Louis XIII had said its initial fundraising target from the new placements was HKD1.56 billion, with an upsize option of up to HKD780million. It said at the time the placing price would range from HKD3.00 to HKD4.00 per placing share, adding that the conversion price of the placing convertible bonds would be the same as the placing price.

On Friday the firm said the upsize option had been “partially exercised”. It added the placing price of the shares – and thus of the convertible bonds – was at the bottom of the previously quoted range. It represented a discount of around 7.1 percent to the closing price of HKD3.23 per share on the full day’s trading prior to Friday’s announcement.

The placing shares represent approximately 65.4 percent of the company’s existing issued share capital, and approximately 39.6 percent of the total issued share capital as enlarged by the placing shares.