Lo: property was a payment for outstanding debt
Reports that Alvin Chau’s Macau junket firm Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. has acquired the beleaguered Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel and Greek Mythology Casino in Macau are being denied by Amax International Holdings, a rival junket operator which owns a nearly 30 percent stake in the property.
The rumor was first reported in an interview with Andrew Lo, executive director of Suncity, and published in Hong Kong’s Ming Pao, reported the Macau News Agency. Lo said Suncity scooped up the Taipa property after its license holder, Macau Hotel Developers Ltd., failed to repay a loan from Suncity. In Lo’s account, the property was essentially offered to Chau in lieu of payment.
The Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel has been closed since 2016 on order of the Macau Government Tourism Office. Lo added that Suncity and its subsidiary, Victory Success, would upgrade the hotel and casino as soon as it gets a hotel license. The supposed redevelopment would include a redesign and rebrand of the property and a reduction in the number of rooms from 500 to 300 to serve a more select VIP clientele.
Amax in its rebuttal said that “in no event have the control rights of the hotel been passed to Mr. Chau.”
Asia Gaming Brief reports that Suncity is seeking legal advice on the matter.
