Landing continues Korea expansion with Pyeongchang purchase

Tuesday 16th of December 2014

Mainland property developer, Landing International Development, which has two casino projects on South Korea’s Jeju Island, said it’s diversifying its investments in the country with a plan to buy the owner of the Alpensia Casino at the Holiday Inn Resort in Pyeongchang for HK$868.6 million ($112 million).

The company said there is significant potential at the resort given the planned 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. It said it plans to help the company that currently owns Alpensia to expand the casino business from the existing 16 gaming tables to 70 gaming tables. It also plans to help market the resort to VIP clients.

At present, the casino has 3 Blackjack tables, 9 Baccarat tables, 1 Tai Sai table, 1 Roulette table, 1 Poker table, 42 slot machines and 1 big wheel.

“The acquisition offers a valuable opportunity for the group to broaden its market share in the casino industry in Korea, and to diversify its investments from Jeju Island to

Gangwon-do Province,” it said in a release to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Located in the mid-eastern part of the Korean peninsula, Gangwon-do Province has some of the best scenery and vacation spots in Korea throughout the year. Top summer vacation destinations include Gyeongpo Beach, the largest beach on the east coast of Korea, and Jeongdongjin Beach, which lies in front of Jeongdongjin Train Station.

The casino is one of the two casinos in Gangwon-do Province and the only casino located in the Alpensia Resort which is a composite tourist complex with skiing and other

tourism attractions. Alpensia Resort is tucked away in the mountains at about 700m above sea level.

Landing is currently developing the two projects on Jeju with the Genting Group.

Last month, it formed a 50-50 joint venture with Genting Hong Kong to run a casino inside the Hyatt Regency Jeju in Jeju Island, South Korea. Genting HK agreed to pay KRW130 billion ($117.2 million) to invest in the venture.

The casino is one of the eight gaming licenses in Jeju under the Tourism Promotion Act. It is now under renovation and is expected to reopen in January 2015 with around 30 gaming tables and 16 slot machines. The joint venture will operate the Jeju Casino under Genting Trademarks.

It’s also teaming up with Genting Singapore to develop a $2.2 billion integrated resort on the island.