Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung‘s plans to buy the Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns is a little less certain than it was a few months ago now that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has raised concerns about the deal.
The financier has concluded a A$269 million takeover of the property in conjunction with his plans to develop an $8 billion-plus mixed-use resort with gaming on a stretch of nearby coast not far from the Great Barrier Reef. The government of Queensland has given conditional approval to the project, Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef, as it’s called, pending environmental, planning and other clearances.
But the consumer watchdog organization warns that “The proposed acquisition has the potential to reduce the number of casino owners in Cairns from two to one, removing potential competition between the Reef Casino and the Aquis Resort.”
The Reef currently offers some 40 table games and 500 machine games, which Fung would raise to around 750 tables and more than 1,500 slots.
But of course Aquis is the resort he sees with the potential to attract sizable visitation from China, his target market. “North Queensland is missing the man-made wonder of the world, which is presented in Aquis,” he said.
“Ten years ago Chinese tourism visitation to Queensland was minimal,” he added. “I compare that to figures released recently where [the] Chinese are now the second most predominant tourism nation to Queensland and rising.”
Aquis is also moving to buy Casino Canberra, currently owned by Casinos Austria International and French hotel group Accor.
