GGRAsia – Rich Goldman interest in Solaire VIP video play, live games

Rich Goldman interest in Solaire VIP video play, live games

Apr 28, 2020 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Macau, Philippines

A unit of Hong Kong-listed junket promoter Rich Goldman Holdings Ltd is to enter a joint venture that will introduce players to a “VIP room with video streaming and live gaming tables” at Solaire Resort and Casino in the Philippine capital, Manila.

The Monday filing said Rich Goldman’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Prime Jade Enterprises Ltd, would team with an outside entity called Great Happy Century Ltd, wholly owned by a businessman called Tam Ka Wo, who is referred to as the guarantor in the arrangement.

A resulting shared venture called Ever Lucky Global Ltd is to introduce players to the VIP room at the Manila property. A junket representative controlled by Mr Tam will – under an agreement with Solaire’s operator Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc – run the high roller room. Ever Lucky Global is to receive 1 percent of the rolling turnover generated from the live gaming tables in return for making player introductions, said the announcement.

Prime Jade and Great Happy will respectively subscribe for 510 shares and 490 shares in the joint venture, paying respectively HKD510,000 (about US$66,000) and HKD490,000. The holding in the venture will be split 51 percent to 49 percent, in favour of Prime Jade, reflecting also the number of shares respectively subscribed to by the partners.

Prime Jade’s subscription “is expected to be funded by the group’s internal resources,” said Rich Goldman.

The group added that “given the long-term business relationship between the group and the guarantor,” Mr Tam, “as well as the “satisfactory returns” from Rich Goldman’s previous collaboration with a Macau junket called Hoi Long Sociedade Unipessoal Lda also controlled by Mr Tam, “the directors are of the view that the formation of the joint venture company in the Philippines with Great Happy represents a strategic move for the group to diversify its gaming business…”

Until this month, Hoi Long operated junket business in relation to eight VIP tables at Casino Grand Lisboa at the Grand Lisboa resort run by SJM Holdings Ltd in downtown Macau. That agreement was not extended in “light of the challenging economic conditions and the recent outbreak of coronavirus,” Rich Goldman said in a March filing.

Rich Goldman saw its revenue decline 8.2 percent year-on-year to just HKD119.8 million for the financial year to June 30, 2019. Rich Goldman was formerly known as Neptune Group Ltd, when it was considered at one stage the largest brand by rolling chip volume in casino junket business in Macau.