Casino Canberra Gets Mystery Second Bid, Aquis Trading Suspended on ASX
Hong Kong-based Aquis Entertainment has received a surprisal bid from a closed book bidder to win its Australian property, Casino Canberra.
The latest come near triggered Aquis to asking a trading hold of its shares on the ASX patch it considers the young proposal.
Last month, the troupe proclaimed it planned to sell the casino to Capital Leisure, a subsidiary of Sydney-based hospitality accompany Oscars Group, for AU$52 meg (US$36 million).
In a statement to the ASX, Aquis said the competing proposition had been followed by a revised extend from Washington Leisure. Both were at “materially higher prices to that agreed in the original understanding with Capital Leisure.”
The identicalness of the competing bidder has non been publicized, although more details virtually the proposal are expected to be revealed this week.
Government Impasse
Aquis, controlled past Hong Kong billionaire banker Tony Fung, has been trying to sell the Casino capital of Australia for some time.
It acquired the seedy prop in 2014. That was at the same clip Fung was seeking favourable reception for a controversial proposal to build a A$8 1000000000 (US$5.8 billion) megaresort cassino in Cairns, Queensland, shut to the Great Barrier Reef. That projection has since been abandoned.
Fung hoped investment inwards Canberra, the Aboriginal Australian capital, would lubricating oil the skids on the Great Barrier Reef deal.
Aquis petitioned the Aussie Washington State (ACT) authorities to set aside slot machines at Casino Canberra. In return, the accompany promised to turn AU$307 trillion (US$209 million) into regenerating a property it said had suffered from “years of underinvestment.”
Aquis asked for 500 slots. In 2018, the governance offered just 200, positive 60 EGMs (electronic gaming machines), dependent to certain strict conditions. Aquis said the counterproposal made it “difficult to progress… [the] pilot proposal.”
Ultimately, the society failed to gain concord with the ACT government, which allay prohibits slots inwards the state.
Dodged a Bullet
In 2018, Blue Whale Entertainment sought-after(a) to suit the major shareholder in the attribute inwards an AU$32 one thousand thousand deal. But that deal fell through and through because Blue Whale failed to advance favorable reception from ACT regulators.
It was a honest call. In 2020, Blue Whale’s owner, Michael Gu, became an international runaway when his Sydney-based dimension group, iProsperity, collapsed, owing investors around US$245 million.
Gu and his business organization partner, Harry Huang, are accused of operating a Ponzi scheme. Their whereabouts remain unknown.