Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings has completed the acquisition of a parcel of land in Okinawa, Japan from its parent company, LET Group Holdings.
In a Friday filing, both Summit Ascent and LET Group said completion of the transaction took place on 14 July after all conditions precedent were fulfilled, including the approval of Summit Ascent shareholders.
“Following the completion, all the Target Companies and their subsidiaries have become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Summit Ascent and indirectly non-wholly owned subsidiaries of LET, and the financial results of each of the Target Companies and their subsidiaries would be consolidated into those of the LET Group and the Summit Ascent Group,” they explained.
Summit Ascent revealed last month that it plans to develop a luxury hotel with seaside cabins on the 108,799 square meters of undeveloped land in Nishihara, Okinawa prefecture.
The hotel, it explained, would provide a “strong potential synergy” with Japan’s plans to develop its first integrated resorts and related cross-selling opportunities. Japan’s central government recently approved a US$10 billion IR with a casino to be developed by MGM Resorts in Osaka.
The land in question was first purchased by LET Group, then known as Suncity Group, in 2019 for a similar hotel development as part of the company’s efforts to pursue an IR license in Wakayama.
Suncity also purchased land in Hokkaido with intentions to develop a ski resort but announced the sale of that land in April. Suncity withdrew from Japan’s IR race in 2021.
The decision by Summit Ascent to pursue a hotel development of its own in Okinawa comes after it raised HK$601.4 million (US$77 million) via a rights issue and placing in 2020, some of which was to have been used for a Phase II expansion of Tigre de Cristal. However, those plans were put on hold last year due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with the company stating it “does not have a positive outlook for Tigre de Cristal and is of the opinion that developing Phase II would result in significantly increased expenditures with minimal potential return on investment in the current economic environment.”
Friday’s transaction sees Summit Ascent acquire both the 51% interest held by LET Group and 49% stake held by an independent party.
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