Suncity Group has wasted no time in asserting control of Summit Ascent Holdings following the acquisition of a majority stake in the Russian IR operator last week, with Andrew Lo and Chiu King Yan named as new Executive Directors.
Lo, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of Suncity, has also been named Deputy Chairman of the board, with former Summit Ascent Chairman Kuo Jen Hao stepping down from his role. Kuo is also Chairman of Taiwan’s First Steamship Company Ltd – the former majority shareholder in Summit Ascent that sold its entire stake to Suncity last week.
Chiu is currently Chief Financial Officer of Suncity and the brother-in-law of Lo. According to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Summit Ascent on Friday, both Lo – who previously served as a Non-executive director – and Chiu have entered into letters of appointment for a term of three years with each entitled to a director’s fee of HK$1.2 million per year.
Having purchased an initial 3.29% stake in Summit Ascent late last year, Suncity Group has now lifted its stake to 27.94% with last week’s HK$718 million (US$91.5 million) acquisition comprising 286,048,464 shares – equivalent to 19.21% of Summit Ascent’s issued share capital – previously held by First Steamship Company Limited and another 83,958,000 shares (6.44%) held by Kuo.
Summit Ascent owns Russian integrated resort Tigre de Cristal in the Primorye gaming zone near Vladivostok.
