Chow Tai Fook Enterprises has formally delivered its offer to the Bahamian government to buy the unfinished Baha Mar megaresort.
Along with its bid the Hong Kong-based conglomerate has included a list of prospective hotel brands and gaming operators, a source of some controversy when CTFE emerged as a potential buyer back in October in light of the company’s relationship with Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho. CTFE is an investor in a Hong Kong company that is the largest stockholder in Ho’s publicly traded casino operator, SJM Holdings. Ho has linked with organized crime in various law enforcement reports worldwide over the years, though he has never been charged with any offense. CTFE maintains that it is an arm’s length investor in SJM and not involved in Ho’s gaming business in any way.
“(CTFE) has submitted to the government of the Bahamas proposals for the hotel and the casino, and the government of the Bahamas is now looking at what they have submitted,” said Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe. “They’re going to pretty much follow what they’ve done in other jurisdictions where they have major casino operators from veterans in the industry. We’re looking at all the components, we have to take a look at what they do now. They’ve given us a list of players that we’re doing due diligence on.”
Chow Tai Fook is aggressively diversifying into the global casino space. In Australia the company has partnered with Star Entertainment on development of a $3 billion integrated resort with gaming in the Queensland capital of Brisbane. The company is also eyeing possible IRs in South Korea and Vietnam, among other locations.
The Bahamian government, for its part, is desperate to find a buyer with Chow Tai Fook’s pockets to revive the stalled US$3.5 billion project and deliver the thousands of jobs and tourist arrivals it promised before it collapsed two years ago amid a falling-out over costs and other issues between the original developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, and principal financier Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) and lead contractor China State Construction.
Baha Mar was taken out of receivership in the Bahamas last year by CEXIM, which has committed to completing construction and getting the resort open. CEXIM transferred the resort to a subsidiary called Perfect Luck Holdings for the purpose of negotiating a sale.
In announcing its bid in October, CTFE said it “will invest millions ahead of the official deal completion through pre-opening activities and employment, which has already commenced and will be expanded in the coming weeks and months”.
