Genting Malaysia is injecting $150 million in cash into Empire Resorts, its New York operating subsidiary Resorts World Catskills casino hotel and nearby Monticello Raceway.
The infusion, made through a special issue of preferred stock, is the second for Empire this year, following a $40 million issue of preferred stock from Genting Malaysia back in March, when Empire, which was struggling to service the debt it incurred to develop Resorts World Catskills, closed the casino at Monticello to cut expenses.
The March cash infusion was accompanied by a $550 million short-term refinancing plan designed to keep the operator afloat and out of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Genting Malaysia, a separately traded subsidiary of Malaysia-based resort conglomerate Genting Group, took over Empire last fall and took it off the Nasdaq exchange. As a publicly traded company Empire was majority owned by entities controlled by the family of Genting Group Chairman Lim Kok Thay, who indirectly is also Genting Malaysia’s largest shareholder.
Genting also owns the Resorts World New York City racino at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens and is developing a gaming resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
In the meantime, Resorts World Catskills’ struggles continue. As the largest of New York’s four commercially owned gaming resorts it was to be Empire’s crown jewel, but it has underperformed projections since opening early in 2018.
The property reported a second quarter loss of almost $216 million, a situation aggravated by a state-imposed Covid-19 closure that lasted from March 16 to September 9.
“The disruption to (Empire’s) operations caused by the pandemic resulted in a significant adverse impact on its liquidity,” Genting Malaysia said, adding that it is working with its subsidiary on a new timetable for restructuring its debt on a longer-term basis.
