In a July 6 filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, International Entertainment Corp. announced that it has appointed a new CEO, Zhang Yan Min, and accepted the resignations of two board members, Lam Yat Ming and Ren Yunan.
Also joining the board as an executive director is Chan Chun Yiu Thomas, the group general counsel of the company since February 2017.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, the company is looking to diversify its business after losses of K$67.3 million (US$8.7 million) for the year that ended on March 31.
An executive director with IEC since May 2017, Zhang has more than 28 years of experience in commercial development, investment and business management, the company said. He formerly served as general manager of Lloyd’s Register Industrial Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and as country manager of SABIC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
IEC derives most of its revenue from leasing properties in the Philippines to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the state-run gaming regulator, based on a percentage of net gaming revenues. But since being acquired by Brighten Path Ltd. in 2017, a company controlled by Hong Kong businessman and poker player Stanley Choi, IEC has made “significant efforts to broaden its interests,” IAG reported, including the planned acquisition of Wigan Athletic Holdings Ltd., which runs English Championship side Wigan Athletic Football Club and its DW Stadium.
IEC has also signed a deal with the Stars Group, owner of PokerStars, that gives it exclusive rights to operate PokerStars-branded poker rooms and run live PokerStars events in Asian countries including Macau, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Japan and Cambodia.
IEC said it plans to “actively diversify its business portfolio whilst making efforts to expand its current business. The group believes that the deployment of expanding its entertainment and sports related businesses will broaden its source of income and create synergies among the group’s businesses.”
