Lawrence Ho’s Tigre de Cristal casino resort in the Russian Far East will buy equipment worth US8,648 from Dolphin Products Ltd., a maker of casino currency that is indirectly controlled by Ho, according to GGRAsia.
The equipment will be acquired via Oriental Regent Ltd. under an agreement with Dolphin. In April, Tigre de Cristal announced it would get US$1.29 million worth of currency products from Dolphin.
Dolphin is an indirect subsidiary of Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc., which is majority-owned by Ho’s Melco International Development Ltd. Ho also controls Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd., which in turn owns 60 percent of Oriental Regent. Completing the circle, Oriental Regent holds the entire equity interest in G1 Entertainment LLC, which holds the gaming license for Tigre de Cristal, in the project in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone near Vladivostok.
According to a filing last week from Summit Ascent, the deal makes sense all around. “The terms … are no less favorable to Oriental Regent than those obtainable from independent third parties,” it said.
GGRAsia reported that Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., which operates casinos in Macau and the Philippines, also has a deal to buy equipment worth up to US$29 million from Dolphin Products. Ho is co-chairman and chief executive of Melco Crown.
