NagaCorp owner of Cambodia's Naga casino to raise funds through IPO in HK

The imposing Naga Casino looming over the Buddhist Insitute's facade (Photo: http://holdinghandsinphnompenh.blogspot.com)

NagaCorp bets on Hong Kong IPO

NagaCorp expects to raise at least US$70 million from the Hong Kong listing to fund its expansion in Cambodia and Hong Kong

By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my
Business Times (Malaysia)
July 28 2006

TYCOON Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong of the FACB Group has won approval to raise funds from the initial public offering of his Cambodian casino, NagaCorp Ltd, on the Hong Kong stock exchange, sources said.

The listing would take place as early as September this year.

Chen is the controlling stakeholder of NagaCorp, a company which owns and operates Naga Resorts & Casino, the only legal casino in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

He had previously failed to list the business in Malaysia and Singapore.

It is believed that NagaCorp expects to raise at least US$70 million (RM257 million) from the Hong Kong listing to fund its expansion in Cambodia and Hong Kong. NagaCorp's listing would be the first casino IPO on Hong Kong's stock exchange.

"Chen has big plans for NagaCorp. When his plan to inject NagaCorp into the FACB group was denied by the local authorities in 2000, he decided to find other ways to make it big for NagaCorp," said a source.

The local authorities had rejected Chen's plan to inject NagaCorp into the FACB group because the exchange's rules then declared such overseas operations out of bounds.

NagaCorp has a 70-year licence in Phnom Penh while Chen has exclusive rights to gaming facilities in Phnom Penh and 200km in any direction.

Ariston Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NagaCorp, holds the licence to operate the Naga Casino in Phnom Penh.

Chen is the chairman of Ariston, which in 1994 won a highly controversial tender to develop a US$1 billion (RM3.67 billion) mega resort and casino complex at an international airport in Sihanoukville.

Cambodia's gaming market is relatively under-developed, with about US$1 billion of revenue generated from 12 casinos last year, compared with Macau's US$5.4 billion (RM19.8 billion) gaming market.