Shares in film producer Charles Heung Wah-keung's China Star Entertainment surged 17.77 per cent yesterday after the company said it would pay HK$538 million for a controlling stake in a Macau high rollers' gambling junket attached to Stanley Ho Hung-sun's Grand Lisboa casino hotel.
China Star will pay HK$300 million in cash, HK$196 million in convertible notes and HK$42 million in new shares to Macau gambling junket operator Ng Cheuk-fai for a 51 per cent stake in Mr Ng's profit from the 10 baccarat tables at the Ocho VIP Club at the newly opened Grand Lisboa.
The deal includes a 12-month call option to acquire the remaining 49 per cent stake in the junket operation for an additional HK$516.9 million in cash, notes and new shares.
Shares in China Star, which had been suspended from trading since August 17, closed 4.3 HK cents higher at 28.5 HK cents in heavy trading.
Gambling junket acquisitions have proven a popular theme among investors this year.
In July, junket investor Teem Foundation said it would raise up to HK$546.65 million in two share placements to buy a stake in a VIP gaming junket that analysts said would be attached to Las Vegas Sands Corp's US$2.4 billion Venetian casino resort.
Earlier this year Neptune Group, formerly known as Massive Resources, paid HK$240 million in two separate deals for minority interests in two junkets.