The majority owners of Macau’s Grand Emperor Hotel are set to increase their stake in the property by 15% in a deal worth around HK$460 million.
In an announcement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Monday, Emperor International Holdings Limited and its subsidiary Emperor E Hotel Limited revealed they had reached an agreement with Big Wheel Limited to purchase its entire 15% stake in Luck United Holdings Limited – the investment holdings firm that operates Grand Emperor Hotel and Emperor Palace Casino.
The deal would see Emperor International Holdings and Emperor E Hotel increase their stake from 60% to 75%.
Detailing their motives for upping their interest, the companies said the purchase price represents a 40.67% discount on the consolidated net asset value of Luck United attributable to the sale shares as at 31 August 2018.
“The board of directors of both Emperor International and Emperor E Hotel believe that the acquisition represents a tremendous opportunity to increase the stake in Luck United at a deep discount,” they explained.
“In recent years, the target group (Luck United) continued to achieve a stable performance in entertainment and hospitality services in Macau and generate recurrent income stream for Emperor E Hotel and Emperor International. The acquisition can realize the expansion of such good investment opportunity. In addition, the acquisition will enable Emperor E Hotel to utilize financial resources efficiently.”
Emperor International Holdings and Emperor E Hotel said they have now paid a HK$138 million deposit with the remaining HK$322 million to be paid upon completion of the deal.
Emperor E Hotel, which also runs Inn Hotel Macau, announced earlier this year a 7.1% decline in revenue to HK$1.5 billion for the 12 months to 31 March 2018, but saw profit attributable to owners of the company increase 13.6% to HK$393.5 million – both results primarily from operations at Grand Emperor Hotel, located on the Macau Peninsula.
Grand Emperor offers 307 guest rooms across 26 floors of which six floors offer gaming facilities covering around 130,000 square feet. The casino facilities include 67 mass market tables, 10 VIP tables and 172 slot machines.
