After spending some $173.5 million in April of 2016 to acquire the Les Ambassadeurs Club in London, Chinese real estate firm Landing International Development Limited has now closed a deal to offload the upmarket British casino property for approximately $320.3 million.
Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Limited first announced last month that it had agreed to sell the venue located in the capital’s posh Mayfair district to an enterprise led by businessman Paul Suen Cho Hung upon the completion of due diligence. It declared at the time that the disposal would strengthen its cash flow and ‘working capital position’ and allow it to ‘enhance its ability to focus’ on the giant Jeju Shinhwa World integrated casino resort it is building in South Korea while ‘remaining in a good position to invest in any opportunities with good prospects’.
Landing International Development Limited is hoping to begin gaming operations at Jeju Shinhwa World, which was previously known as Myths and History Park and then Resorts World Jeju, from December 8. Last month saw it raise just over $229.2 million to help it complete work on the 617.7-acre Jeju development via the placing of 24 billion new shares.
“The board is pleased to announce that all conditions precedent of the disposal agreement have been fulfilled and the completion took place on October 11, 2017,” read a statement from Yang Zhihui, Chairman and Executive Director for Landing International Development Limited. “Upon completion, the disposal group ceased to be subsidiaries of the company.”
Landing International Development Limited explained last month that included in the disposal would be all of its interests in the Les Ambassadeurs Club Limited subsidiary and would lead to it recording a gain ‘before tax and consideration of other transaction costs’ of around $64 million. It additionally proclaimed that the deal would represent a return on investment of ‘30% to 35% expressed as the ratio of estimated gain over initial acquisition considerations’.