Chinese Strategic to team with Nasdaq-listed Macau operator for Tinian project

Sunday 11th of January 2015

Chinese Strategic Holdings says its Tinian Realty International unit is in talks with a Nasdaq-listed operator with operations in Macau over a hotel-casino project on the island of Tinian in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.

“The parties have been in active negotiations on the key structural framework of the possible engagement,” Chinese Strategic Holdings said in a Hong Kong regulatory filing.

It didn’t name the company, though said it was one of the Nasdaq-listed operators with operations in Macau. Wynn Resorts and Melco Crown Entertainment are listed on the Nasdaq, while MGM Resorts and Las Vegas Sands’ shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The tie-up would involve assistance in the possible application for a gaming license and for the new hotel complex; consultancy services relating to negotiations between the government and regulatory agencies in the CNMI; and providing advice and enabling TRI to fulfill and satisfy compliance and/or regulatory duties and responsibilities.

The filing also said the NASDAQ company has expressed an interest in managing the hotels and resorts, as well as the casino and gaming facilities.

It may also “subject to certain conditions,” consider subscribing for convertible bonds and/or new shares in Chinese Strategic, with a view to becoming a significant shareholder.

The announcement did not mention where the casino complex will be located, however Chinese Strategic’s unit Mega Stars Overseas has in the past said it wants to build an integrated resort on a 482-hectare site at Puntan Kastiyu.

The plan includes two world-class golf courses, 20-30 6-star high-end villas, a mid/high-end 4-5 Star hotel with 300-400 rooms, a retail / dining village and an agricultural cultivation zone which will provide food for the hotels on the island, a separate local media report said.

Tinian became the focus of attention for Hong Kong and Macau investors in 2014 after Best Sunshine won the only license available to develop a casino on larger neighbour, Saipan.

Apart from the Mega Stars proposal, Bridge Investment Group is planning to build a $130 million, 300-room casino hotel by the Tinian harbor and Shanghai-based Saipan Jinghua Investments Ltd. aims to develop a $4 billion integrated resort on 300 hectares of public land located at Pina Plateau on Tinian.

Macau’s Alter City Group plans to invest $360 million and is ready to begin construction following compliance with regulatory agencies.