GGRAsia – Summit Ascent now has 78pct of Tigre de Cristal operator

Summit Ascent now has 78pct of Tigre de Cristal operator

Nov 17, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

An offshore unit of Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd is upping to 77.5 percent from 67.5 percent, its stake in Hong Kong-registered Oriental Regent Ltd, the promoter of the Tigre de Cristal casino resort (pictured) near Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.

Summit Ascent Holdings is in turn a 69.66-percent owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd, which has as a controlling shareholder Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, the boss of Macau-based, privately-held junket brand Suncity Group.

The increase in the Summit Ascent Russia Ltd stake in Oriental Regent comes about via a share subscription exercise in the latter.

Summit Ascent Holdings said in an October 30 filing it had agreed to acquire in aggregate a further 7.5 percent interest in Oriental Regent. That increased the firm’s stake in Oriental Regent to 67.5 percent, it said at the time.

The reason given for the deal at that time, was that two minority shareholders in Oriental Regent – offshore entity Joyful Happiness Ltd, with 5 percent, and Hong Kong-registered Sharp Way Group Ltd with 2.5 percent – did “not intend to provide their respective shares of equity funding to Oriental Regent” when the latter looked to raise an additional US$65 million as capital for the Tigre de Cristal project.

Summit Ascent had said in an October 29 filing of unaudited highlights of its third-quarter performance that, in terms of average net monthly gaming revenues, net win amounts from Tigre de Cristal had recovered to 81 percent and 99 percent of first-quarter levels for mass-market tables and slots respectively. That was since the property had reopened on July 16 following a period of closure due to Covid-19.

The firm did not give figures for VIP performance, but noted that “rolling chip business was affected by the travel ban as the Russian borders remained closed”.