The billionaire Tony Fung has officially acquired Casino Canberra for the sum of AUD6 million.
Joy Burch, the ACT Gaming and Racing Minister, publicly revealed that the deal has finally been completed and Casinos Austria International is no longer in charge of Casino Canberra.
She also added that the closed deal indicates that all rumors and speculations, related to the purchase of the casino should stop since an approval from local authorities was received after several months, saturated with changes and setbacks.
The project is supposed to be one of its kind and Tony Fung is said to invest more than AUD8 billion in establishing a super luxurious casino resort in a close proximity to Queensland.
Aquis received an environmental approval last week; design details were also figured out and the deal was inked on Tuesday.
The purchase of Casino Canberra is expected to make Aquis a competitive company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange so the debt it has to be reduced and the funds for the mega project to be raised.
When Casino Canberra was managed by Casinos Austria, there used to be a prohibition for availability of poker machines on the premises, which was said to be among the key reasons for the staff layoffs and reduced working hours the venue had to deal with.
Now, the casino ownership is transferred to Aquis but things are not going to change. In other words, restrictions which have been valid for the last couple of years remain the same regardless of the deal completion.
Three months ago, Tony Fung and his son got a discount from the sale price amounting to AUD3 million and had talks with the local officials about other projects that might eventually take place in the foreseeable future.
The future casino is yet to receive a license by Queensland’s gambling regulators. As for the casino resort itself, there will be two casinos, 7,500 hotel rooms as well as abundant choice of sports and entertaining facilities.
The deal has already been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Ms Burch had no hesitations in confirming that the decision, concerning the license transfer was taken after a thorough probity investigation.
The Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation representatives were also requested to grant an approval.
She also added that Mr Fung was the investor who has shown keen interest in expanding his business to Canberra and the economy will definitely benefit from that venture.
According to the agreement signed, Aquis Canberra is supposed to help the government deal with the problem gambling matters and education by voluntarily providing funds.
Mere weeks ago, an Aquis representative announced that company’s intentions are to manage the casino venue for a long time and they are already “looking at various options for improvements and upgrades”.
