The Thai vendors of Donaco International Ltd’s Star Vegas casino in Cambodia have significantly increased their interest in the company in the wake of the AU$14.4 million entitlement offer completed last week.
In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday outlining the change in substantial holding, Donaco revealed that the vendors – Lee Bug Tong, Lee Bug Huy and Lee Bug Leng – alongside a company called Highest Point Investment Ltd had increased their voting power from 23.66% to 42.08%.
The filing noted that both Lee Bug Tong and Lee Bug Huy had acquired shortfall securities under the entitlement offer, first announced on 3 July as a means of boosting liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the offer was completed last week, Lee Bug Huy was one of two new members admitted to the Donaco board on Tuesday – the latest step in what has been a dramatic makeover of the company following a boardroom coup at its AGM last December.
That coup, which followed the earlier ousting of company founder Joey Lim by shareholders, saw three members – Chairman Stuart McGregor and then-recently appointed non-executive directors David Green and Yugo Kinoshita – voted out. Since then, long-time Donaco General Counsel and Company Secretary Ben Reichel and CEO Paul Arbuckle have both stepped aside, with Arbuckle officially departing earlier this week.
The Thai vendors, who own the land and buildings in which Star Vegas operates in Poipet, had long been at war with Donaco but recently reached a settlement agreement with the new-look board that on paper at least should provide for a more stable operating environment once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
