GGRAsia – MoU with casino op for gaming at 13 Hotel still valid: firm

MoU with casino op for gaming at 13 Hotel still valid: firm

Apr 08, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

South Shore Holdings Ltd says a memorandum of understanding with an “affiliate” of a licensed Macau casino operator in relation to the management and operation of a casino in The 13 Hotel “remains in place”.

“No formal agreement has been entered into with any [Macau casino] concessionaire or sub-concessionaire as operator, in respect of any gaming operations in The 13 Hotel although the memorandum of understanding entered into between a subsidiary of the company and an affiliate of one such operator… remains in place,” South Shore told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

It added: “The entering into of a formal agreement continues to remain subject to, amongst other things, the operator making an application and obtaining approval from the Macau government to conduct gaming operations in The 13 Hotel.”

None of Macau’s six casino operators so far has publicly confirmed such an arrangement.

Hong Kong-listed South Shore owns and operates The 13 Hotel (pictured), a property on the border between the Cotai and Coloane districts in Macau.

The 13 Hotel opened last August. A spokesman for South Shore told GGRAsia in March that no casino would open in the hotel by the end of that month, as had once been envisaged.

The plan was to open a casino containing 66 gaming tables, nearly one quarter of them for VIP players and the rest for gamblers in the premium mass-market segment.

South Shore said in January that it had signed a US$191 million “non-binding memorandum of understanding” aiming to reduce its debt. In its Thursday filing, the company said that the parties had agreed to postpone the expiry date of the deal by 30 days to May 4 – and to put back the date even further, if needed – so talks between them could continue.