Suncity again pushes back deal to buy Vietnam casino stake

Aug 02, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Suncity Group Holdings Ltd has again delayed completing the purchase of 34 percent of a casino resort project in Vietnam. Suncity Group told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday that it had put back the deadline for completion to August 31.

Macau junket investor Alvin Chau Cheok Wa’s Suncity Group announced the HKD600-million (about US$76.8-million) deal in July last year.

Suncity Group first postponed the deadline for completing the purchase of its stake in the project in December 2017, putting it back to March 31 and warning of further postponements.

In Wednesday’s announcement, the company said the deal’s completion depended on the developer obtaining the consent of a bank it had borrowed from for developing the project. The bank has yet to give its consent, although Suncity Group expects it will do so by the new deadline.

The project will see a casino resort (pictured in an artist’s rendering) built in Hoi An in central Vietnam by Hoi An South Development Ltd. The first of seven phases of the development will have a casino with 140 tables and about 1,000 slot machines, hotel accommodation, and a golf course.

The mechanics of the transaction will see a subsidiary of Suncity Group, Goal Summit Ltd, acquire the stake by buying 100 percent of Star Admiral Ltd. The seller of Star Admiral is Suncity International Holdings Ltd, of which Mr Chau owns 100 percent.

Suncity Group is also hopeful it can expand into new markets in Asia. Suncity Group executive director Andrew Lo Kai Bong told GGRAsia in June that his company was looking for opportunities to acquire casinos in South Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Myanmar.

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