According to people familiar with the situation, Chinese investors Tony and Justin Fung are about to acquire Canberra Casino by the end of the year.
However, they will discuss the price with the current owners with the aim of getting a discount, equal to $3 million.
Although their plan for acquiring the venue in Queensland was halted, company’s representatives announced that they have reconsidered their offer and reduced it to a total of $6 million.
The decision made by the management will separate the two offers, concerning respectively Canberra Casino and the Reef Casino Trust. Unfortunately, the acquisition of RCT was suspended due to probity investigations. In other words, the luxurious resort that was about to be established in the area will open doors a bit later than initially expected.
Greg Jones, CEO of ACT Gambling and Racing Commission, said that if Aquis had acquired the Reef Casino, this would have meant that it owns Casino Canberra as well since both venues are currently managed by Casinos Austria.
Jones also added that Casinos Austria and Aquis have reached an agreement to separate the offers and figure out the details about the sale of Casino Canberra.
Nevertheless, Aquis took actions towards the acquisition of both venues. It has already met the requirements of the Foreign Investment Board and got an approval by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission. However, it has a long way to go, as it needs to get an approval from a few more institutions. Aquis was previously informed that the RCT deal is not likely to be inked within the deadline, which is Nov.28th.
Since there is no chance for RCT to be obtained anytime soon, all efforts should be concentrated on the acquisition of Casino Canberra.
Chinese investors were really hopeful about the bright future of the Casino. What is more, the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission informed the company that they might get an approval by the end of 2014.
Jones said that the approval should not pose any difficulty provided that the authorities have all the information required so they can go ahead with the probity matters and come up with a decision by Christmas.
Those who are familiar with the development of both casinos know that they have not been too successful recently. As a matter of fact, they have been experiencing financial difficulties and a decrease in sales. Casinos Austria, the company that manages both venues, said that the situation would be much better if there were poker machines available.
A representative of Tony and Justin Fung added that everyone, involved in the deal, is working towards keeping Casino Canberra under the management of Aquis for a long time and looking for the best alternatives that could be favorable to the venue.
Expectedly, the information, concerning the suspension of RCT acquisition, caused a rapid decline of its market shares.
