Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, a company controlled by Lawrence Ho and majority stake holder in Vladivostok’s Tigre de Cristal integrated resort, has announced the departure of Craig Ballantyne as Chief Operating Officer – Russian Operations.
Mr Ballantyne, who oversaw the opening of Tigre de Cristal in November 2015, will join another Lawrence Ho company, Melco International Development Limited, after completing the handover of his current duties in the coming weeks.
His place in Russia will be taken by Stylianos Tsifetakis. The 46-year-old Mr Tsifetakis is currently Mr Ballantyne’s deputy and has worked in a senior management capacity with Summit Ascent for the past three years, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
With more than 20 years of experience in the casino and hospitality industry, he was previously Director of Operations at Regency Casino Mont Parnes and a director at Hyatt Regency Casino, both of which are located in Greece. Mr Tsifetakis also held senior managerial roles in various world class hotels in multiple jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Romania and Kazakhstan. Mr Tsifetakis holds a casino management certificate in Greece and graduated from London South Bank University in the United Kingdom with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in hotel management.
Summit Ascent has also announced the appointment of Eric Landheer as an executive director of the company, effective immediately. Currently Director – Corporate Finance and Strategy, Mr Landheer is responsible for leading the company’s fundraising and other capital markets activities, strategic planning and execution, as well as investor and media relations.
Prior to joining Summit Ascent in March 2014, he was Senior Vice President and Head of Issuer Marketing at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited from 2011 to 2012 and led their efforts to attract international and Chinese listings to Hong Kong as well as the promotion of offshore Renminbi products.
Previously, Mr Landheer was Head of Asia Pacific for the NASDAQ OMX Group Inc for four years, based in London and Hong Kong, and was responsible for NASDAQ’s new listings and retention business as well as media and government relations throughout Asia. He has also worked as Managing Director in the Corporate Client Group for The NASDAQ Stock Market Inc for three years and was responsible for IPOs in the United States.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with high honors from The University of California, Berkeley in the United States.
