GGRAsia – Paradise Co US$87mln in bonds for pandemic liquidity

Paradise Co US$87mln in bonds for pandemic liquidity

Oct 16, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Paradise Co Ltd, an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, has told GGRAsia that a recent KRW100-billion (US$87.3-million) bond offering it made was to support its liquidity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm had “decided to issue corporate bonds this time to secure liquidity in preparation for the continued coronavirus situation,” said a Paradise Co spokesperson, in response to an emailed enquiry from GGRAsia.

The person added the company would work to “minimise negative financial impacts” on its business, by engaging in steps such as “cost reduction and restructuring”. The statement didn’t give further details on that point.

The company representative said that the KRW70-billion in its bonds that were taken up by state-owned Korea Development Bank under the offering, represented the largest-ever Korean-won-denominated bond transaction by a special-purpose vehicle operated by that lending institution.

The other subscribers to Paradise Co’s offer were SK Securities Co Ltd, with KRW20-billion in the bonds, and Mirae Asset Daewoo Co Ltd with KRW10-billion worth.

Paradise Co’s accumulated casino revenue for the calendar year to September 30 was just above KRW261.03 billion, which was 54.0 percent down from the prior-year period.

One of gaming venues it runs is at the tourist resort of Paradise City, at Incheon, near South Korea’s main airport. Paradise City, a venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc, has had to close several times due to the Covid-19 alert, including for instances of infection among staff. It most recently reopened on September 9.

Paradise Co also has foreigner-only casino operations at Walkerhill in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; and Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan.

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare said that as of 12am on Friday, the country had a daily increase of 47 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 25,035. There were also two more deaths in that 24-hour period, taking the national total to 441 since the start of the crisis, said the ministry.