The owners of Vietnam’s The Grand Ho Tram are one of two separate groups to have proposed the construction of a major four-lane expressway connecting their integrated resort to the new Long Thanh International Airport currently being built in nearby Dong Nai Province.
According to local business media outlet The Investor, US private equity firm Warburg Pincus – which acquired The Grand Ho Tram in 2019 – and Vietnamese developer Masterise Group have separately proposed development of the US$740 million expressway which would ensure a more convenient connection to Long Thanh than existing airport Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Warburg Pincus proposal has been submitted via its subsidiary Ho Tram Project Co. Ltd.
Long Thanh International Airport is Vietnam’s largest infrastructure development to date, coming at a cost of US$14 billion. Phase 1 is due to open in 2026 with the entire project expected to be complete by 2035.
Long Thanh is located to the east of Ho Chi Minh City, around 78km from Ho Tram – 30km closer than the existing airport.
The Investor report states that The Grand Ho Tram has outlined a two-phase financing plan under which the government would find land clearance and frontage roads while the 42km expressway, coming at a cost of almost US$510 million, would be funded via a build–transfer which would include land swaps involving the Ho Tram 2 resort township plus some other land.
It is claimed that Ho Chi Minh City authorities are reviewing both proposals and consulting with relevant agencies before they submit plans to the People’s Committee.
First opened in 2013 with an initial investment cost of US$500 million, The Grand Ho Tram is planned to be a US$4.2 billion integrated resort once fully complete, offering a casino, 9,000 hotel rooms, an 18-hole golf course, villas and expansive retail options. The foreigner-only casino, golf course and some hotel rooms have been operational since opening.
US hedge fund giant Harbinger Capital – which covered the resort’s initial US$500 million investment – sold off its majority interest in The Grand Ho Tram’s parent company, Asian Coast Development Ltd (ACDL), to Warburg Pincus in July 2019.
Warburg Pincus subsequently inserted a new management team in early 2020, led by Walt Power – a Macau industry veteran whose previous roles include SVP of Operations for Sands China subsidiary Venetian Macau Limited.
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