A Russian company that planned to acquire the operating entity of Summit Ascent Holdings’ Tigre de Cristal integrated resort (IR) in Russia has terminated the deal.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, on February 19 Dalnevostochnyj Aktiv LLC served IR operator Oriental Regent Ltd. with a “notice of unilateral extrajudicial repudiation”—basically pulling out of agreement to acquire G1 Entertainment LLC for US$116 million.Tigre de Cristal is in the Primorye economic zone near Vladivostok, close to Russia’s Black Sea.
Summit Ascent controls 77.5 percent of Oriental Regent, and the LET Group, formerly Suncity Group, owns 69.66 percent of Summit Ascent. Taiwanese firm Firich Enterprises Co. Ltd., via the Firich Investment Ltd. subsidiary, holds a 20 percent stake in Oriental Regent. G1 Entertainment holds a gaming license for Tigre de Cristal, granted by the Russian government.
When the deal was announced in January, five of six members of the Summit Ascent board quit to protest the transaction. Three LET Group directors also resigned, leaving only Andrew Lo Kai Bong, executive director and chairman of Summit Ascent, also an LET board member.
Last August, in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Summit Ascent posted a loss of HKD16.1 million (US$2.1 million) for the first half of 2023, compared to a HKD85.2 million profit during the same period in 2022.
Meanwhile, the firm suspended work on Phase 2 of the Primorye resort due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Shortly after the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the company indicated it might consider seeking “strategic local partners” to operate Tigre de Cristal until the situation stabilized.
As reported by GGRAsia, LET Group and Summit Ascent “will be seeking legal advice on the termination notice and will make appropriate announcements if and when appropriate, including amongst others, announcement on the application for resumption of trading in shares.”
