SJM Holdings shareholders have voted to acquire the concessionaire’s satellite casino L’Arc for HK$1.75 billion (US$225 million). The news was disclosed in a regulatory filing that was cited by casino news outlet Inside Asian Gaming (IAG).
The move will save L’Arc from closure at year’s end – the deadline by which Macao’s 11 satellite casinos have to wind up operations – through making it a wholly-owned and self-managed property.
More than 99.9 percent of those eligible voted in favour of the acquisition at an Extraordinary General Meeting held Monday. The move would also see SJM gain ownership of L’Arc Hotel, Casino L’Arc Macau, and associated retail and dining outlets, along with the property’s current owners: Arc of Triumph Development Company Limited, Arc of Triumph Hotel Management Company Limited and Le Royal Arc Property Management Company Limited.
All entities are already linked to SJM co-chairman and executive director Angela Leong, who abstained from voting due to her material interest in the outcome. Leong was the fourth wife of gambling magnate Stanley Ho and is the mother of esports entrepreneur Mario Ho.
[See more: End of an era: SJM will close Macao’s final satellite casino by year’s end]
Monday’s meeting also saw shareholders approve a loan of HK$177.3 million to Leong to make up the shortfall between Casino L’Arc’s selling price and the property’s existing debt that is being repaid.
Casino L’Arc is one of nine satellite casinos that were licensed by SJM. Seven of the others shut up shop earlier this year – along with the SAR’s two Galaxy-licensed satellites – after a three-year transition period in accordance with Macao’s 2022 revised gaming law. The remaining SJM satellite, the Landmark Casino, is scheduled to permanently close on 30 December.
While SJM had initially indicated it hoped to absorb both L’Arc and Ponte 16, it did not go ahead with the latter’s acquisition after what the casino operator described as “a thorough assessment of long-term business planning, commercial considerations and resource prioritisation.”
