GEN Malaysia seeks extension to sell GEN HK stake

Apr 07, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd is seeking approval from its shareholders to renew the disposal mandate of its entire 16.87 percent interest in casino ship operator and Philippines casino investor Genting Hong Kong Ltd.

Genting Malaysia obtained a mandate on July 2, 2015 – valid for one year – to dispose of the entire 1,431,059,180 shares in Genting Hong Kong, held via Resorts World Ltd. No shares have have been sold under that mandate so far.

Both Genting Malaysia and Genting Hong Kong are controlled by Malaysian-based Genting Group.

In its latest proposal the firm assumes a minimum disposal price of US$0.29 per share, Genting Malaysia said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday. The original mandate was for a minimum disposal price of US$0.33 per share.

The opening trading price for Genting Hong Kong’s shares on Thursday was HKD2.75 (US$0.35).

Assuming that the entire disposal shares in Genting Hong Kong are disposed of at the minimum price, Genting Malaysia said it expects to raise total gross proceeds of about US$415.0 million.

Disposal at the minimum price would however represent a loss to Genting Malaysia, which paid US$604.1million for its Genting Hong Kong stake, at an average purchase price of US$0.42 per share, between 1998 and 2006, according to the filing.

The proceeds arising from the disposal may be used for investments or working capital of Genting Malaysia, the firm said in its latest filing.

Genting Malaysia in February announced that it would be doubling the investment to expand and add new facilities to the firm’s Resorts World Genting, Malaysia’s only casino resort. The total capital investment is now estimated at MYR10.38 billion (US$2.46 billion) from the original MYR5 billion announced in 2013.

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