Australia-listed casino operator Silver Heritage Group Ltd. announced in a January 22 filing that it has “returned” control of the company to a new board of directors following its takeover by HatchAsia Inc.
In November, Philippines-based HatchAsia acquired a 92 percent interest in Silver Heritage via a subsidiary. Silver Heritage developed the Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, on Nepal’s border with India, and the Millionaire’s Club in Kathmandu.
According to GGRAsia, three former directors of Silver Heritage are no longer with the company, including ex-CEO Mike Bolsover. HatchAsia executives are now in charge, including President and CEO Kirk Arambulo and DFNN Inc. Executive Director Ramon Garcia Jr. DFNN was recently licensed by Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR to offer domestic online gaming services. It owns almost 19 percent of HatchAsia.
Another new board member is Rafael Consing Jr., senior vice president and chief financial officer of International Container Terminal Services Inc, a company founded by Philippine businessman Enrique Razon Jr. Razon is chairman and CEO of Bloomberry Resorts Corp., developer and operator of Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila.
The takeover was completed eight months after Silver Heritage entered voluntary administration. “The company had been exploring options to generate liquidity and prior to the emergence of Covid-19 had received expressions of interest from several parties in respect of possible transactions,” Silver Heritage stated last year. “However, as a result of the emergence of Covid-19 and the forced temporary closure of the company’s facilities in Nepal, the timing in relation to consummating one of the transactions has become uncertain.”
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Silver Heritage had faced a series of challenges in recent years, including delays to the launch of Tiger Palace that added $12 million to the budget. Worse, in 2019 casino operations at the Phoenix International Club in Vietnam, where Silver Heritage provided gaming management services, were closed when amendments to the property’s Investment Certificate forced the shutdown of gaming tables. In the previous year, Phoenix had accounted for around 45 percent of the company’s group-wide revenue, IAG reported.
