VinaCapital Gets New Vietnam Partner

Written by

Share on social media

Genting bowed out of foreigners-only project

VinaCapital, a Vietnamese company that once planned a $4 billion casino in the country with Genting Berhad, has found a new partner for the megaresort project: Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, owned by billionaire Cheng Yu Tung.

In 2012, Genting bowed out of the project because of concerns the resort would not flourish as a tourists-only property. Like the Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Sheldon Adelson, Genting had lobbied the Vietnamese government to rewrite its gaming regulations to allow locals to gamble. When it didn’t happen, the company pulled out of the project. The Malaysian company had owned an 80 percent stake in the Nam Hoi An venture.

Chow Tai Fook, whose business includes luxury jewelry stores, already has a presence in Vietnam with its New World Development unit and two hotels in Ho Chi Minh City. And it certainly has the financial muscle: billionaire Cheng Yu Tung, longtime business partner of Stanley Ho, is the fourth richest man in Hong Kong. Chow Tai Fook also is a partner with Echo Entertainment in a new gaming development on Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane, Australia.

WCD reports that Phase I of the resort, expected to cost $500 million, could be in development sometime in 2016. The first phase will include luxury apartments and villas; an amusement park and a golf course.

GGRAsia reported that under the deal, VinaCapital unit VinaLand Ltd. has divested 100 percent of its stake in the so-called “HAS Project” to Gold Yield Enterprises Ltd, an entity of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd.

Meanwhile, reports continue to swirl that the Vietnamese government may consider whether to open casinos to locals. At present, only people with foreign passports may gamble in the country’s casinos.

The government’s requirement that new investors make a minimum capital investment of $4 billion may add pressure to open the doors to locals.