Lawrence Ho Yau Lung’s “family office” Black Spade Capital launched the world’s first pataca-denominated corporate bond Tuesday with Tai Fung Bank.
Ho, who was reportedly ill, did not attend the launch ceremony held at Morpheus Hotel at City of Dreams, one of the gaming properties operated by Ho’s Melco Resorts and Entertainment. Ho is the son of gaming mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun.
According to a statement available only in Chinese, the corporate bond is valued at 2 billion patacas and has a maturity rate of two years, offering investors a coupon rate of 3.1 percent.
The statement said that Black Spade, which was set up a year ago, manages Ho’s personal assets and wealth, apart from exploring non-gaming businesses and projects in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), with investments in various areas, such as real estate, recreation and culture, medical technology and environmental protection.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Black Spade Capital President and CEO Dennis Tam Chi Wai said that the bond was to provide investors another option with a higher yield.
“We see the market here, we see the niche,” Tam said, “With the Macau deposit rate, if you have MOP [patacas] on hand, what you would do is deposit it in the bank.”
He noted that the present deposit rate is about 1.4 percent per annum and about 2 percent for high-end private banking customers.
“So our bond issued at 3.1 percent is very attractive,” Tam said, adding that investors have been quite eager to purchase the bond and that he “foresees” that companies would follow suit to launch pataca-denominated bonds and similar financial products to tap the market.
Asked if there were specific projects Black Spade is investing in, Tam said it was just a “general investment” but there was a plan, without elaborating further.
