An offshore unit of Macau satellite casino promoter Emperor Entertainment Hotel Ltd is to acquire a 25-storey building in the Central district of Hong Kong from a connected company, for a total consideration of HKD655.2 million (US$83.9 million).
Emperor Entertainment Hotel, which promotes the Grand Emperor Hotel and casino in downtown Macau operated under SJM Holdings Ltd’s gaming licence, said in a Friday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the deal with a unit of Emperor International Holdings Ltd was to “expand its assets portfolio within the scope of its principal business”.
It added: “Emperor Entertainment Hotel has been engaging in the provision of hospitality services in the past two decades, and currently operates a number of hotels and serviced apartments in Hong Kong and Macau.”
The building in the deal has 69 units and a gross floor area of approximately 29,685 square feet (2,758 sq. metres), said the update.
It stated that in Hong Kong “after the resumption of international travel, the hotels have shifted… their focus from long-stay amid the pandemic, to short-stay, thereby increasing the demand for long-stay in serviced apartments”.
That was a supported by Hong Kong government policies to support talent importation from the Chinese mainland, it added.
The purchaser is Poly Keen International Ltd, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with principal business of investment holding and an indirect non-wholly owned subsidiary of Emperor Entertainment Hotel.
The vendor is Emperor Property Development Ltd, a BVI-registered investment holding business and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Emperor International.
Emperor International controls a 71.63-percent stake in Emperor Entertainment Hotel.
For Emperor International, “the net proceeds of approximately HKD654.5 million, subject to adjustments,” would enhance the “liquidity of Emperor International” and provide reserves “for backing up its investment opportunities in the future”, stated the Friday filing.
On April 23, Emperor Entertainment Hotel issued a positive alert regarding its expected profit for the 12 months to March 31 this year. It expects a net profit of not less than HKD50.0 million, compared to a HKD128.0-million loss in the previous financial year.
