Aquis failed to provide “crucial” information to gain regulatory nod

Wednesday 26th of November 2014

Aquis Group, lead by Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung, has not met with Queensland regulators and has not provided information that was crucial to the approval of his acquisition of a local casino.

The group earlier this week said it was withdrawing its $276 million-offer to buy Reef Casino Trust in Cairns because the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation could not give approval by the Friday Nov. 28th deadline Fung had imposed.

The failure of the RCT acquisition has thrown into doubt separate plans for the development of an A$8.15 billion ($7 billion) mega resort at Yorkeys Knob. Fung had hoped to use the cash flow from RCT to help fund the development of the Aquis Barrier Reef resort.

The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper cited an OLGR spokeswoman as saying the Queensland government would “not compromise the integrity of the probity process” which, although in its final stages with Aquis, required “important information [that] remains outstanding”.

Aquis had still not provided key information about funding and future cash flows, the newspaper said.

The OLGR was also yet to finish its consideration of the “reputation and criminal history of Aquis and its associates” through talks with local and international policing agencies.

The spokeswoman told the newspaper that investigations, which can routinely take more than a year, were “critically dependant on the availability of information and the cooperativeness of the applicant”.