The owners of Macau’s 13 hotel are reported to have entered into an agreement to sell a 40 percent interest in the luxury hotel for HK$750 million.
News site Inside Asian Gaming reported the sale, citing ownership group South Shore Holdings, which said the buyer, identified as “an associate of a substantial shareholder,” might also acquire another 10 percent of the Cotai resort.
Envisioned as an over-the-top boutique getaway for super-rich Chinese, the red-sheathed, all-villa hotel reportedly suffered numerous problems with financing that delayed its opening until last August, when it debuted with only a portion of its 199 apartments completed and no promised agreement with a Macau-licensed casino operator for a high-end, tables-only casino.
In its accounting for the financial year ended in March, Hong Kong-listed South Shore reported only HK$5.4 million in income from The 13 for the seven months it was open, its business limited during that time mostly to private functions, according to news reports.
The company posted HK$5.84 billion in losses (US$747.5 million) for the year, roughly 70 percent of it attributed to the development, opening and marketing of The 13.
Earlier this year, it was reported that South Shore had sold 24 of the hotel’s 30 custom-built Rolls-Royce Phantoms at a significant loss to repay bank loans.
