Tigre De Cristal’s Developer Signs Deal With Kangwon Land

Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, the developer of the Tigre De Cristal casino resort in Russia recently announced that it has signed a non-binding agreement with the South Korean casino operator Kangwon Land Incorporated for a potential strategic partnership spanning several areas including project investment and hotel management.

Summit Ascent made the declaration of the agreement in its filing made with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week.

Kangwon Land operates the Kangwon Land Casino And Hotel which is the only casino in South Korea that allows locals to enter the casino and gamble. In its latest financial results, the casino reported revenue of US$110.1 million for the second quarter of 2016.

Tigre De Cristal

Summit Ascent Holdings Limited is the only operator in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone that runs an operational casino. The special zone is a casino-focused area that is situated around 31 miles from Vladivostok, a Pacific port city in Russia. The Tigre de Cristal casino opened in September 2015 and features over 120 hotel rooms and a large casino floor having around 321 slot machines in addition to 35 VIP tables and 33 mass tables.

In September 2015, a spokesperson from Summit Ascent said that gaming entrepreneur Lawrence Ho Yau Lung who controls Summit Ascent had committed a further investment of US$700 million which included plans for a second phase.

The agreement between Summit Ascent and Kangwon Land covers the possibility of having a South Korean contractor for future construction activities as well as South Korean project financer in relation to the development of Phase II of the Tigre de Cristal. The agreement also suggests that there could be future investment opportunities for Kangwon Land to invest in future projects of Summit Ascent.

In addition to these areas of cooperation, the memorandum also mentions that there is the likelihood that Kangwon Land or any of its designated associate companies could handle the management and operations of one of the hotels that will be developed in Tigre de Cristal’s second phase.

A training exchange program with exchange of staff between the facilities of both companies and integrated marketing programs are also mentioned. Also discussed in the agreement is cooperation for a special travel program that involves cruise line routing and chartered flights between the Kangwon Land Casino and Tigre de Cristal casino.

Additional opportunities for cooperation mentioned in the agreement are development of a golf course, a clubhouse and development of a sporting club within phase two of Tigre de Cristal. Plans for facilities that offer duty free shopping in Tigre de Cristal has also been highlighted in the document.