NagaCorp reassures investors that founder’s death “will not have any material impact”

Investors have been reassured by Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp Ltd after the passing of Chen Lip Keong, the company’s founder.

In the company’s voluntary statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, significant business components “will not have any material impact” from Chen’s passing.

Following Chen’s passing, NagaCorp, which has a long-term casino monopoly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia via its NagaWorld complex, had a 9.20 percent decline in share price on Monday. Before Wednesday’s trading, the stock had, nonetheless, increased by 3.38 percent.

According to the release, ChenLipKeong Fund Ltd and NagaCorp have a subscription agreement under which the latter will purchase slightly more than 1.14 billion settlement shares, generating about HKD 13.71 billion (US$1.76 billion) at HKD 12.00 per share. The Sakai Trust, Chen’s family trust, has full ownership of the subscriber, an investment holding company.

The Sakai Trustee is the direct and indirect owner of 69.26 percent of NagaCorp’s issued shares, according to the filing. The board said that there were no known circumstances that would prevent the subscription agreement from staying in effect, and that Chen’s passing would not have a significant effect on it.

The loan of up to US$80 million from the Sakai Trust, which was meant to refinance and/or discharge a part of NagaCorp’s existing 2024 notes at maturity, was also mentioned in the statement. In response, the company said it did not know of any circumstances that would make the lending agreement useless.

The petition also said that the founder’s passing had no effect on the senior management team other than the selection of Chen Yiy Fon, Chen’s son, as the organization’s new CEO. The board wholeheartedly supports the current management team.

In October of 2023, NagaCorp reported EBITDA of US$215.4 million for the first nine months of the year, a 17.4% increase over the same period the year before.

Original story by: GGRAsia