A Philippines-based investment group has been cleared by regulators in Australia to purchase troubled Asia casino operator Silver Heritage.
According to news reports, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board has issued a “letter of no objection” for an entity known as HatchAsia to acquire 92 percent of Silver Heritage’s ASX-listed equity in exchange for A$530,000 in cash (US$391,000) and shares in a new ASX-listed company, HatchAustralia Holdings.
DFNN, a supplier of e-gaming technologies in the Philippines and a major HatchAsia shareholder, said in a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange that the buyout is expected to be finalized this month, subject to approval by Silver Heritage’s stockholders.
“As a shareholder, we welcome and look forward to the foray of HatchAsia in the international market,” said DFNN Chief Executive Calvin Lim.
The deal, he added, will “provide us better access to a wider capital base as well as create new business streams for a larger audience reach that will pave the way for more Philippine businesses to globalize.”
Silver Heritage, which operates two casinos in Nepal, including the country’s only destination-scale casino, Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa, entered voluntary receivership in May after both properties were closed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The closures proved the tipping point for the company, which already was reeling from the demise of a foreigners-only casino in Vietnam that was its principal revenue generator. Industry news site CalvinAyre.com said the property, the Phoenix International Club near Hanoi, was shuttered early in 2019 after its Vietnamese partner failed to renew its gaming license.
