Southeast Asian casino operator Silver Heritage Group has completed the acquisition of a 74,500-square meter parcel of land in Jhapa, East Nepal upon which it plans to build its second Nepal integrated resort, tentatively named Tiger Palace 2.
But the land isn’t quite as large as the parcel Silver Heritage had previously sought after its original purchase agreement expired on 31 March 2018 while the company’s funds were being fully utilized to complete construction of its existing Nepal IR, Tiger Palace Resort in Bhairahawa.
Silver Heritage first agreed to acquire a 115,000-square meter plot of land for Tiger Palace 2 in mid-2016 for a total consideration of US$4 million and paid a deposit of US$946,000, followed by another US$1.9 million later that year following its successful IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Those deposits, totaling almost US$2.9 million, were forfeited and written off in the full year ended 31 December 2017 after the original agreement expired, however the company revealed on Monday that it “has successfully completed the acquisition of a reduced parcel of land by utilizing in full the initial deposits paid by the company.” Total cost including the deposit was reported at US$3.2 million.
The smaller plot is similar in size to that upon which Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa currently sits.
Silver Heritage added that it has subsequently agreed to sell a 20% stake in its land-owning entity to local partner, Mr Sanchit Shrestha, in order to raise the full capital for purchase and reduce outstanding supplier payables.
Despite the land acquisition, Silver Heritage Chairman James Spenceley said the company was still fully focused on ramp of Tiger Palace Resort, which opened late last year.
“The board has recently undertaken a formal program to resolve all historical and outstanding issues within the business with a view to focusing management 100% on the marketing and success of the existing Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa,” he said.
“The completion of the land and reduction in debt, while a fantastic result, by no means takes away any focus of the company from the ramp up of existing operations at Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa.”
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