The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has informed the parent company of troubled Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International that its shares will be delisted as of 22 February 2024.
IPI revealed via a filing that the exchange’s Listing Review Committee had this week upheld a previous delisting decision, with the final day of listing for the shares to take place on 21 February. Listing of the shares will be cancelled with effect from 9am on 22 February.
IPI said it will advise the market of any further announcements in relation to the delisting, including and possible judicial review or any other measure of last resort on maintaining the listing status of the company.
The development comes with IPI having last month belatedly published its financial results for the first six months of 2022 in an effort to stave off delisting, however it has been unable to fulfil Rule 13.24 of the Listing Rules which state an issuer “shall carry out, directly or indirectly, a business with a sufficient level of operations and assets of sufficient value to support its operations to warrant the continued listing of the issuer’s securities.”
This rule has proved problematic given that IPI’s sole asset – its Saipan casino Imperial Palace • Saipan – has been closed since March 2020 and its casino license suspended since April 2021.
Saipan’s casino regulator is also readying for a license revocation hearing this month, which could spell the end of IPI’s controversial reign as the sole casino licensee on the island.
RelatedPosts
