The Chairman of Hong Kong-listed Asian gaming investor International Entertainment Corp (IEC), Stanley Choi, is poised to sell off another 20% stake in the company – the fourth time he will have sold shares since the start of the year and his most sizeable disposal yet.
According to a Monday filing, Choi has informed the company he intends to dispose of up to 273,830,000 shares currently held by his wholly-owned Brighten Path Limited, equivalent to 20% of IEC’s issued share capital and worth around HK$85 million (US$10.9 million) at the current price. No reason was given for the disposal, which would reduce Choi’s stake to 7.41%.
Choi, who acquired IEC in 2017, had previously held 55.82% of the company but sold off an 18.99% share to IEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Ho Wong Meng, in March for HK$228.8 million (US$29.4 million).
In early November this month he sold off another 63 million shares for HK$24.6 million (US$3.2 million), reducing his interest to 32.23%, then another batch of 66 million shares just weeks later to take his interest to 27.41%.
IEC owns New Coast Hotel Manila in the Philippines where it plans to co-run casino operations alongside local gaming regulator PAGCOR as part of a recently signed cooperation agreement. The company then plans to use the know-how it acquires from PAGCOR to develop and operate its own integrated resort in Manila, having already been granted a provisional gaming license.
IEC recently revealed that its IR would feature “two-to-three sky high buildings” and cover 250,000 square meters of total area, with substantial gaming and non-gaming attractions.
Aside from its casino ambitions, IEC also holds the rights to run land-based live poker events and poker rooms across Asia, including in Macau, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia, under the PokerStars brand.
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