THE M3: RUSSIA; MACAU LEGEND/DYNAM

08/26/13 08:00AM EDT

THE MACAU METRO MONITOR, AUGUST 26, 2013

HO COMPANIES BUY INTO RUSSIAN CASINO RESORT SCMP, Macau Business

Two Hong Kong-listed firms controlled by Lawrence Ho - Melco International Development and Summit Ascent - entered into an agreement to invest in 51% of Hong Kong company Oriental Regent, which owns a casino resort in Primorye, Russia.

The casino was under construction and had a planned total investment of US$130 million.  Summit Ascent will invest two billion roubles (HK$463.7 million) for a 46% stake in Oriental Regent, while Melco will pay 216.7 million roubles for a 5% interest.  The casino resort sits on a 90,455 square metre plot and will have a planned gross floor area of 31,630 sq metres.  It will have 119 hotel rooms, 800 slot machines, 25 VIP gaming tables and 40 mass market gaming tables, and is expected to open in September 2014.

"The casino resort has the advantage of being geographically close to the target feeder markets, the three Chinese provinces in northeastern China, namely Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning," said Summit Ascent, which invests in property and supplies building equipment.  "Russia offers a favourable tax environment for gaming business compared to other jurisdictions. The investment will give the company a first mover advantage as the proposed casino resort will most likely be the first legal casino to start operating in the Far Eastern Region of Russia."

The casino will pay Summit Ascent a fee of 3% of its GGR and pay Melco a consultancy fee of 0.3% of its GGR.  Under this agreement, Oleg Drozdov, a Russian businessman engaged in the construction business in Primorye, will own 30% of the casino resort, and Firich Enterprise, a gaming supplier listed in Taiwan, will own a further 19%.

PACHINKO PARLOUR SET FOR MACAU FISHERMAN'S WHARF Macau Business

Macau Legend Development Ltd has signed a non-binding agreement with Japanese pachinko operator Dynam Japan Holdings Co Ltd to set up and operate at least 100 gaming machines at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.  Friday’s agreement will also see Dynam market Macau Legend’s hotels and casinos to its customers in Japan and South Korea.  The five-year deal begins next year.


Macau Legend reported a 5.7% fall in its first-half net profit to HK$266.7 million (US$34.4 million).  It blamed the drop on one-off costs of listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

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