Former Macau casino operator Macau Legend Development Limited says it did not agree to a handover of the building and assets comprising its stalled hotel and casino project in Cape Verde prior to the government forcibly taking possession last week.
In a filing, Macau Legend – which owns the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf Precinct and until last year ran a satellite casino at Legend Palace under the concession of SJM – said it had been notified by the Cape Verde government on 15 January that it intended to take possession of the assets the following day. The government also requested the company’s presence to facilitate a voluntary handover.
However, Macau Legend said it did not believe this request had any legitimate basis and therefore the company did not agree to it.
“Disregarding the company’s objection to the voluntary handover, [the] Cape Verde Government took possession of the assets by entering into the premises of the investment project,” it said. “The Company is currently seeking legal advice in respect of the matter.”
Despite this, Macau Legend noted that it had already fully impaired the carrying amount of the assets as part of its FY24 financial accounts and therefore considers that the latest development will not have a material adverse impact on the operation or financial performance of the company.
Cape Verde authorities announced in November 2024 that they were cancelling the Establishment Convention and its Addendum originally entered into with Macau Legend subsidiaries MLD Cabo Verde Resorts SA and MLD Cabo Verde Entretenimento SA due to the company allegedly “flagrantly and repeatedly” violating its obligations.
The subsidiaries violated their contractual obligations on “several levels”, the government said at the time, including by “transferring more than 20% of its share capital without authorization from the Cape Verdean government” – a reference to the 2020 sale of a 20.65% stake in the company to Levo Chan, the CEO of one Macau’s largest junkets at that time, Tak Chun Group. Chan has since been arrested and jailed for 14 years – later reduced to 13 years on appeal – for illegal gambling, fraud and money laundering.
The Cape Verde government also rejected claims by Macau Legend that its failure to progress with the casino project was related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Macau Legend’s Cape Verde project was first agreed by former Macau Legend chairman David Chow in 2015 with a ground-breaking ceremony held in 2016. It had been slated to include a casino, hotels, MICE facilities and a marina on a site covering almost 153,000 square meters before work stalled during the pandemic.
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