All subsidiaries of South Shore Holdings, operator of Macau’s The 13 Hotel, have now ceased operations and are insolvent, with a decision expected to be made imminently on the winding up of the company.
The update on South Shore’s business status was provided via a Thursday filing following a series of recent developments, including an application in June for liquidation of the subsidiary that owns THE 13, a High Court writ in Hong Kong over unpaid debts and a winding up order issued by the Supreme Court of Bermuda.
According to the filing, provisional liquidators have now gained access to and are reviewing financial information of the company in order to fully understand its position.
However, based on the information provided by the former management of South Shore, the subsidiaries of the company “either have ceased business or do not have operations, and all of them are insolvent.”
The filing says that the provisional liquidators have been making efforts to have discussions with various parties to explore the possibility of a restructuring of the group although no such agreements have currently been reached. The company is also due to hold a First Meeting of Contributories on 15 October 2021 to discuss the winding up order. Trading in shares of the company has been suspended since 25 June.
Most of South Shore’s woes emanate from its failure to realize its vision for THE 13 Hotel, located to the south of Macau’s Cotai Strip.
The brainchild of long-departed Chairman Stephen Hung, THE 13 had been envisioned as an uber-luxury hotel with space for 66 VIP gaming tables aimed at capitalizing on Macau’s booming VIP segment of the early 2010s. Instead, a series of funding and construction delays saw the property open in September 2018 with no gaming and with a number of rooms unfinished – all at a cost of US$1.6 billion.
