LET Group pledges control of Summit Ascent to lenders after securing US$51 million loan

September 20, 2022 Industry Updates

LET Group Holdings Limited, previously known as Suncity Group, announced Monday that it has entered into a loan facility with four independent third party lenders for the advance of a loan facility of HK$400 million (US$51 million).

The facility, set to mature on 18 September 2023, will be used to fully repay a Promissory Note to the value of HK$380 million (US$48.4 million) and to partly repay 2018 Convertible Bonds – both of which fell overdue in August, sparking an event of default. Both are held by LET Group’s Chairman, Andrew Lo Kai Bong, by way of his wholly-owned company Major Success Group Ltd.

The partial payment will see HK$226 million outstanding under the 2018 Convertible Bonds.

According to Monday’s announcement, LET Group has also pledged a total of 3,141,561,811 shares in its majority-owned subsidiary Summit Ascent Holdings, representing 69.67% of Summit Ascent’s total issued share capital, to the lenders as collateral security.

Summit Ascent is controlling shareholder in Oriental Regent Ltd, which owns and operates Russian integrated resort Tigre de Cristal, near Vladivostok. Tigre de Cristal also represents LET Group’s major source of income given the slow ramp of Hoiana in Vietnam and ongoing development of its other major investment – a hotel and casino in Manila’s Entertainment City.

As previously reported, LET Group resumed trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the first time in over a month last week after Lo increased his offer price to acquire all outstanding shares in the company – part of a mandatory offer under Hong Kong’s Takeovers Code in the wake of him winning a public bid by former Suncity Group lenders to take control of the company.