To reap in late 2016, it was reported that MQtech is venturing into the nascent Cambodia casino market in a joint venture to develop a gaming resort and theme park in the country.
The company is said to be partnering with a local partner named Cambodian Resorts and Entertainment Co Ltd (CRE) for the venture. The resort project is situated in Banteay Chakrey in Prey Veng Province, which is located in the southeast of Cambodia close to the Vietnam border.
The project will see the construction of a resort and entertainment complex comprising of a hotel, casino, and a theme park, among others.
CRE is the owner of the project land and has a sister company which holds a casino license to operate on this land.
While the cost of the hotel and theme park was not disclosed, the resort and entertainment project would include development of serviced apartments in several phases with a GDV of more than US$30mil (RM132mil) as part of the joint venture agreement.
Under the agreement, CRE will contribute the land for the buildings and facilities to be set up. It will also maintain the validity of casino licenses and business operation permit throughout the tenure of the venture.
Meanwhile, a unit of MQTech will finance the setup of a theme park as well as the building of serviced apartments on the land.
The source refused to disclose if Cambodian casino giant NagaCorp Ltd is involved in the project as an interested party. However, the joint venture company will seek a local casino operator to manage the gaming business for the project.
It is interesting to note that the proposed site, covering an area of about five hectares, is located about 100 kilometres from Pnomh Penh’s city centre. The Cambodian government had awarded NagaCorp a 41-year monopoly on casino operations within a 200-kilometre radius of Pnomh Penh which runs until 2035.
On Dec 8 2016, MQTECH had appointed Robbie Hari Krishnan Tatparanandam as an executive director. Robbie, who is a nephew of renowned tycoon T Ananda Krishnan, is also an executive producer with Astro (as at end 2016) and is focused on branded and content development.
MQTech, which has reported meagre earnings over the past few years, is primarily involved in the provision of high precision mould making, magnetic coils for hard disk drives and other services.
As at March 2017 its cash and short term investment stood at RM7.34 million, total debt stood at RM7.75 million.
Its largest shareholder is Goh Boon Soo with a 24.83% stake. Goh is not part of the management team of MQTech or its board of directors.
It is worth noting that as part of its business diversification efforts, the company is also in the midst of developing a theme park in Malacca.
It had completed a new round of fundraising via a rights issue with free warrants which raised RM27.53mil in proceeds. From this, RM15.9mil will be used to subscribe to a 51% stake in a joint-venture for a theme park project in Pantai Klebang, Malacca. The development will be undertaken between MQTech’s wholly owned subsidiary Star Acres Sdn Bhd and Cash Support Sdn Bhd. The theme park, to be known as Malacca Explorer Resort - Dive Park Zone, is to be designed and developed by the Sanderson Group, a well-known Australian leisure park builder.
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