Tinian Silver Heritage Casino
Australian-listed boutique casino operator Silver Heritage Group has moved to start another casino-cum-resort in Jhapa in eastern Nepal.
The group, which operates the Tiger Palace Casino Resort in Bhairahawa, said that it had completed the process of purchasing land for the planned new property named Tiger Palace Resort Jhapa. The total cost of the project has not been revealed.
Alter City filed its casino license application with the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission this month after making two payments of $200,000 and $100,000.
Tinian Dynasty Casino
“The land deal has been finalized. Construction is expected to commence soon,” Brett Model, general manager of Hotel at Tiger Palace, told the Post. “Jhapa’s property has targeted customers from two Indian states—Bihar and Sikkim. We are also looking at the Bangladeshi market which is not far away from Nepal.” In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange, the company said that it had paid a sum of Rs361.3 million ($3.2 million), including taxes and fees, for 74,500 square metres of land. According to the company, it finally managed to secure the land after a previous unsuccessful attempt. The plan was announced in July 2016.
Silver Heritage currently manages two casinos in Nepal—the Millionaire’s Club at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kathmandu and the Tiger Palace Resort in Bhairahawa. The second property was launched in December 2017.
- The Tinian Dynasty Hotel And Casino, which has been closed since early-March, could soon have a new owner with at least five groups now reportedly interested in taking over the shuttered property. The 412-room property in the Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was “temporarily” shut due to a lack of visitor numbers and the lasting effects of Typhoon Souledor, but was due.
- Tinian Tourism: Tripadvisor has 176 reviews of Tinian Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Tinian resource.
The Tiger Palace Resort was awarded a five-star rating by the Department of Tourism in November. Built at a cost of $52 million, the Tiger Palace Resort was classified as Nepal’s first five-star casino resort.
The trade and industrial hub of Bhairahawa, located in the southern Tarai plains close to the Indian border, is also the gateway to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and the site of the country’s second international airport which is expected to be completed by July 2019.
The resort is a 15-minute drive from Bhairahawa Airport and an 18-minute drive from the Indian border. The Tiger Palace Resort has targeted Indian customers since the commencement of operations. Its primary target market is the big Indian population living along the 1,700-km border connecting Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, besides Delhi, Mumbai and other key Indian cities. The 100-room property is the first integrated five-star casino resort in South Asia. In the second phase, Silver Heritage plans to offer 400 guest rooms.
Tiger Palace is spread over 15 bighas and features two villas, a gym, spa, swimming pool, restaurants and meeting and banquet facilities suitable for weddings. The resort provides access to customers to a 2,471 square-metre casino floor.
Earlier this year, Silver Heritage was embroiled in a legal battle with its local partner Rajendra Bajgain. The dispute was settled out of court with the Nepali partner selling his 10 percent share to Silver Heritage. The 500,000 shares were purchased by Tiger Kathmandu Investment.
HK-listed firm closer to takeover of Tinian casino
Chinese Strategic Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed company that has previously had interests in Macau, says it is a step closer to taking over operations at Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Pacific territory.
The company, via its Gain Millennia Ltd subsidiary, entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Ltd, the owner of the casino hotel, the firm said in a filing.
Chinese Strategic, listed on Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market, is chaired by Wilfred Lam Kwok Hing, also an executive director of the company. In the filing, Hong Kong Entertainment is described as a connected person of Chinese Strategic “at the subsidiary level”.
Tinian Dynasty (pictured) is – since its establishment in 1998 – the only existing casino hotel on the island. It currently has 412 rooms. The casino operates about 50 slot machines and 40 tables, mostly baccarat and blackjack.
“Pursuant to the MOU, conditional upon approval of the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission, Gain Millennia will have complete control over the hotel operations and the gaming operations on the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino,” said Chinese Strategic.
Tinian Silver Heritage Casino Buffet
The agreement is due to be enacted by March 31, with the lease commencing by June 30, the company added. The lease is valid for an initial term of six years and could be renewed for consecutive periods of six years until 2051.
In its latest filing, Chinese Strategic said its executives met with the executive director and legal counsels of the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission on January 27 and 28. According to the filing, the Tinian gaming regulators agreed on a preliminary basis “that the structure of the MOU is feasible”.
In 2013, Hong Kong Entertainment and two executives of Tinian Dynasty were charged with a conspiracy to allow gamblers to conduct transactions involving more than US$10,000 without filing the required paperwork with the U.S. government.
The property managers have since entered into a settlement deal with the U.S. government in exchange for the dismissal of the criminal charges against them.
The U.S. government filed in November 2014 a second, superseding, indictment that contains 158 criminal charges against Hong Kong Entertainment, the Saipan Tribune reported last month. The newspaper said that the parties were talking of a possible settlement deal. A jury trial is set for February 9, it added.