GGRAsia – Mohegan to meet S.Korea ministry about Inspire project

Mohegan to meet S.Korea ministry about Inspire project

Aug 14, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Representatives of casino operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment will meet officials of South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) later this month, said the firm’s chief financial officer, Drew Kelly. He added that the encouter would include discussion over the firm’s casino venture in that country.

The company is known as Mohegan Sun and based in the state of Connecticut, in the United States. The U.S. regional tribal casino operator is building an integrated resort, to be called Inspire (pictured in an artist’s rendering), next to Incheon International Airport, spending US$1.6 billion on the first phase, which is due to open in 2021.

“The most important next step – as it relates to the Inspire development – is a meeting that we’ll be having with the MCST in late August and into early September,” said Mr Kelly on a conference call with investment analysts following Mohegan Sun’s announcement of its results for the quarter ended June 30.

“We are preparing a set of information… for them, which we believe will be well received and will otherwise speak to the unique aspect of this truly integrated resort and how it will be a dominant property in the market,” added the CFO. “As a product of that, we’ll be providing an update on the financing structure.”

Mr Kelly said additionally that he and other company executives would be “spending the balance of the remaining portion” of 2018 in Asia, “making sure that we are successful both with the meeting with the MCST and with our financing partner”.

The first phase of the casino resort in Incheon will have a 15,000-seat indoor entertainment arena, three hotels containing 1,000 rooms, more than 11,000 square metres (118,400 sq feet) of events space, shops and a foreigner-only casino with a floor area of 25,000 square metres, featuring 180 gaming tables and 700 slot machines.

Mohegan Sun expects to have the financing for the Inspire settled by year-end, with the project’s “pre-development and related financing on track”.

“I think the timeline hasn’t changed substantially … But in order to check all the boxes … the first next big step is the MCST meeting this month. And then thereafter, we’ll have a very crystal-clear picture as to the exact timing,” said Mr Kelly.

He added: “But generally speaking, no date has materially changed to this point either on financing or likely, the opening.”