Genting HK (0678)

[Nick]

Kim Eng initiated coverage on Genting HK with a report spanning over 30 pages. Very comprehensive report and certainly a good read for anyone interesting in the growing gaming sector. I guess the jewel behind Genting HK would be its 2 casino licenses in Philippines.

http://www.remisiers.org/cms_images/Gent...2011ke.pdf

[Thriftville]

Any buddy has idea on which Genting entity will bid for Taiwan casino?
Is it Genting HK or SG?

[greengiraffe]

Regulator denies casino licence bias
Jessica Gardner
506 words
15 Aug 2014
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2014. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.
The NSW gaming regulator has denied waving through a casino licence ­application by James Packer's Crown Resorts and says an application from Genting Hong Kong is yet to be resolved because the casino giant has not ­co-operated with requests.

Genting applied to the regulator in June 2012 to increase its stake in ­Sydney-based casino operator Echo Entertainment Group beyond a ­constitutional cap of 10 per cent. The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chairman Chris Sidoti said the reason that application was still unresolved, more than two years later, was that the casino and cruise ship operator had been slow to lodge the necessary documents.

"When the investigation began more than two years ago the Authority made clear what documentation it required," he said in a letter to The Australian Financial Review. "It has been in constant contact with GHK [Genting Hong Kong] since then and GHK is fully aware of these requirements, which remain unfulfilled."

Genting Hong Kong is a subsidiary of the Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad, which is run by casino tsar K. T. Lim. Mr Sidoti said the authority requested a meeting with Mr Lim in Sydney in July. "Some further ­documentation has been provided since then but still not all that was sought," he said.

Industry watchers have long ­wondered if Genting would make a takeover bid for Echo, but if clearance from ILGA remains elusive then this option looks to be off the table.Consistent process

Mr Sidoti wrote to the Financial Review in response to a column that contrasted the length of Genting's application with the three months it took ILGA to clear Crown's application for a licence for its Barangaroo casino. In July Crown received probity ­clearance for the new $1.5 billion gambling venue, which will open in 2019.

This week, ILGA chief ­executive Micheil Brodie said Crown's approval was one of the fastest ­assessments of a casino applicant in history. Mr Brodie said the NSW ­government directed the authority to consider a previously approved probity application by Crown during its latest investigation.

In May 2013, Crown received approval to increase its stake in Echo beyond 10 per cent. Despite receiving the clearance, Mr Packer dumped Crown's stake in Echo during the ­unsolicited proposal process, in which the two rivals were fighting for ­supremacy in Sydney. Crown was the eventual winner, with the NSW ­government awarding the company the right to develop a high-roller casino and hotel in the Barangaroo precinct.

Probity regulators investigate whether companies, executives and their close associates are "fit and proper" to be involved in the running of casinos. The investigations are in-depth and plough through reams of ­paperwork such as tax returns, credit card statements and detailed personal asset and liability information.

Mr Sidoti said the ongoing investigation into Genting was "consistent with the process adopted" for the Crown investigation, which took ILGA 15 months. Genting did not respond to requests for comment.

Key points


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020140814ea8f0002b

[greengiraffe]

Echo's never-ending Genting story to close

Edited by Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Gretchen Friemann
397 words
28 Aug 2014
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English
Copyright 2014. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.
Genting Hong Kong is poised to receive clearance to increase its stake in Echo Entertainment Group before the end of the year, sources have said.

Approval from Queensland and NSW probity regulators could put an end to corporate Australia's version of the never-ending story.

The Asian casino and cruise ship operator has been waiting since June 2012 for approval to boost its holding in Echo past a constitutional cap of 10 per cent.

After a period of not complying with requests for documentation, Genting has recently got serious. Company representatives have been making frequent trips to Sydney, with one source saying a handful seemed to be working full time on the application.

Genting's KT Lim met with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority in NSW in July.

The authority's chairman Chris Sidoti said recently that despite the meeting, Lim had still not complied with all requests. However Street Talk understands that the final papers are on their way. ILGA meets in the last week of each month. So long as there are no problems with those, approval could come by Christmas, a source said.

Should Genting receive clearance, the new unknown will be its next move.

Crown Resorts received approval in May 2013 to boost its Echo stake up to 23 per cent. From Genting's current 6.6 per cent stake such a move up the register would cost about $430 million.

Genting Hong Kong company is small, but Lim has plenty of cash. The conglomerate Genting Berhad, 40 per cent owned by the mogul, makes EBITDA of about $2 billion annually and doesn't pay regular dividends.

Without a licence to operate in the world's largest gaming hub, Macau, Genting has limited expansion options. But Australia is a small potential market in comparison with Las Vegas and Japan, where it has ambitions.

Some suggest a relationship between Echo and Genting could allow for high rollers to travel between the Sydney, Brisbane and Singapore casinos. But others say there is no need for Genting to have a larger stake in Echo to make this happen.

Selling the stake may be an option. When Genting bought in, Echo was the monopoly provider in its markets. This status is no longer assured.


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020140827ea8s0003c

[greengiraffe]

Emeritus Zouk?

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/com...genting-hk

Mr Cheng told The Straits Times that he got four offers for Zouk, but decided to sell to GHK as he believes the firm can take the brand to new markets. "I started Zouk when I was 45. I am 68 now. I think I have taken Zouk from a baby to a fully mature adult. I think at my age, it will be quite hard to take Zouk any higher or grow to expand to other parts of the world," he said.

"Genting, on the other hand, has the capability. The only thing missing for them was a club."

[CityFarmer]

Emeritus Zouk?

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/com...genting-hk

Mr Cheng told The Straits Times that he got four offers for Zouk, but decided to sell to GHK as he believes the firm can take the brand to new markets. "I started Zouk when I was 45. I am 68 now. I think I have taken Zouk from a baby to a fully mature adult. I think at my age, it will be quite hard to take Zouk any higher or grow to expand to other parts of the world," he said.

"Genting, on the other hand, has the capability. The only thing missing for them was a club."

It sounds right. Both are in entertainment biz

[opmi]

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/a...60842.html

Drug scandal
Zouk’s immense success has not come without controversy. In 1995, the club was on the verge of shutting down when it was embroiled in a high-profile drug scandal. In the early hours of 31 March 1995, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) conducted islandwide raids and arrested 32 people, among them nine employees and a director of Zouk, as well as the club’s patrons, for drug-related charges.35 It was reported that drugs were distributed freely at the nightclub and that Ecstasy and cocaine – drugs that were believed to have never surfaced in the local scene previously – were circulated and consumed at Zouk.36

Cheng was arrested for possession of drugs, and fined S$20,000.37 Following the drug raids, as its entertainment licence was restricted permitting it to be open only until 10 pm, Zouk closed on 31 March. In August the same year, Cheng sold the club to Shaw Vee King of Shaw Organisation, and the entertainment complex was run by his son Mark Shaw.38

The bad press that ensued following the scandal dealt a blow to Zouk’s image and the nightclub was removed from the Singapore Tourism Board’s 1995 Nightspot of the Year award shortlist. Prior to the incident, Zouk had been tipped as a favourite to clinch the title.39

After eight months of closure, Zouk reopened in November 1995 with a renewed antidrug stance. It was business as usual for the nightspot as old patrons returned undaunted.40 Zouk’s rehabilitation of its status as Singapore’s premier nightclub was complete when the Singapore Tourism Board named Zouk “Nightspot of the Year” in 1996.41

[cyclone]

Genting Hong Kong Limited announced that it has sought, from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the "SGX-ST"), the proposed voluntary delisting (the "Proposed Delisting") of the shares of the Company from the Main Board of the SGX-ST and has received a confirmation from the SGX-ST that it has no objection to the Proposed Delisting subject to certain conditions, details of which are set out below.

More details in http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/E021Deli...eID=472886

[cyclone]

Genting Hong Kong Limited announced that it has sought, from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the "SGX-ST"), the proposed voluntary delisting (the "Proposed Delisting") of the shares of the Company from the Main Board of the SGX-ST and has received a confirmation from the SGX-ST that it has no objection to the Proposed Delisting subject to certain conditions, details of which are set out below.

More details in http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/E021Deli...eID=472886

The Company announced that the its shares will be delisted from the Official List of the Main Board of the SGX-ST with effect from 9:00 a.m. (Singapore time) on Tuesday, 17 April 2018.

[weijian]

Cruise operator Genting Hong Kong files to wind up company

The filing at the Supreme Court of Bermuda comes after the firm "exhausted all reasonable efforts" to negotiate with its creditors and stakeholders, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Wednesday (Jan 19).

Genting Hong Kong flagged on Tuesday that it planned to file for provisional liquidation with courts in Bermuda, where its registered office is, unless it received "credible proposals for a solvent, consensual and inter-conditional restructuring solution".

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/compani...up-company