A few days ago, it was announced that a consortium of several companies, including a subsidiary of U.S. gaming operator Caesars Entertainment Corp., inked a $95.9-million conditional deal for the acquisition of land, which is intended for the construction of a casino in Incheon, South Korea.
The announcement was made by Lippo Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed property developer and a parent company of Lippo Worldwide Investments Ltd. Both companies are members of the consortium. The purchased site has an area of about 89,170 square meters.
The so-called LOCZ Korea Corp. intends to build a gambling venue not far from the Incheon International Airport near Seoul. Only foreigners will be allowed in its premises. At present, there is only one casino in South Korea that is open to residents of the country. This is the Kangwon Land, which, however, is not particularly easy to reach.
Back in October, Steve Tight, the current president of international development for Caesars Entertainment, stated that they intend to begin the construction of the venue in July 2015.
It was decided that gaming operations will be managed by Caesars Entertainment. The company’s chairman Gary Loveman shared that they will do their best to open the venue before the 2018 Winter Olympics. South Korea will be hosting the games and they are expected to attract new foreign visitors.
Earlier this year, the project was introduced to Singapore Exchange Ltd. as a $838.8-million venue, which will spread over more than 150,000 square meters.
According to Lippo Ltd.’s recent filing, the deal for the above-mentioned land was negotiated back in 2007 between Incheon Development Tourism Corp. and Midan City Development Co. Ltd. In fact, Lippo Ltd. owns 38.5% of the latter company.
The other companies that are part of the so-called LOCZ Korea Corp are OUE International Holdings Pte. Ltd., owned by Singapore-based OUE Ltd., and Caesars Korea Holding Co. LLC, owned by Caesars Entertainment.
Caesars’ endeavor is not the only casino that is to open doors at Incheon. Back in July, Paradise Co. Ltd., which is the biggest gaming operator in South Korea, announced that it plans to launch a $1.7-billion venue together with Japan-based company Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. The casino is to be called Paradise City and is expected to open doors for visitors sometime in 2017.
Tyler Ahn and Philip Tulk, equity research analysts for Standard Chartered, said in a special report from September that South Korean government might award up to three more casino licenses for the Incheon region in the years to come.
