GGRAsia – Thai vendor of Star Vegas joins Donaco board

Thai vendor of Star Vegas joins Donaco board

Aug 04, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

A person previously identified as one of the Thai vendors of Star Vegas Resort and Club when Donaco International Ltd acquired the Cambodian border casino for US$360 million in 2015, has joined the Donaco board, according to a Monday filing by the latter to the Australian Securities Exchange.

The appointment of Lee Bug Huy and another person – Paul Porntat Amatavivadhana – as non-executive directors of the company had been envisaged in relation to a recent fundraising exercise by Donaco.

The firm had reiterated in a Friday filing that Star Vegas (pictured in a file photo) – located in Poipet in Cambodia, near that country’s border with Thailand, from where it draws many gambling customers – has been closed since April 1 as a Covid-19 countermeasure.

Donaco’s other gaming operation – at Aristo International Hotel and its associated casino at Lao Cai on Vietnam’s border with China – was also closed on April 1 due to the pandemic, but was allowed to reopen in May.

Donaco’s Friday filing noted group revenue had declined by more than 95 percent for the three months ended June 30, and that the firm was aiming to keep its cash burn rate at between US$800,000 and US$900,000 a month, amid a slump in business related with the coronavirus pandemic.

Lee Bug Huy – along with Lee Bug Tong, another person identified in Donaco filings as one of the Thai vendors of the Cambodian venue Star Vegas – had underwritten Donaco’s recent entitlement offer. As of July, the same two people controlled a 17.99-percent stake in Donaco, and as underwriters in the recent offer were set to increase their relevant interest in the company to 42.12 percent. The two investors had been in previous litigation with the Donaco group.

“The appointments of Mr [Lee Bug] Huy and Mr Amatavivadhana to the board are being made in accordance with the terms of the underwriting agreement related to the entitlement offer,” said Donaco in its Monday filing.

The announcement said the rest of the Donaco board “looks forward to working with both of them”.

According to the filing, Lee Bug Huy is a casino vice president for Star Vegas Casino and Resorts Co Ltd, “where he has been responsible for developing the model for the slot machine business”.

The announcement added the new board member had “significant experience in gaming and casino management and has previously acted as an executive director of the company”.

Mr Amatavivadhana – who had served previously as a non-executive director of Donaco – is described as a founding principal and chief executive of Infinite Capital, a boutique corporate advisory firm based in Bangkok, Thailand. The document said he had “considerable experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and capital raising”.