Hong Kong-listed Get Nice Holdings says it has paid an earnest money deposit totaling HK$25 million to Japan’s Current Corporation as a gesture of interest in forming a joint venture for development of an integrated resort in Nagasaki.
The earnest money relates to an MOU originally signed in January 2019 in which Get Nice revealed plans for its subsidiary, Genius Wise Holdings Limited, to form a joint venture with Japan’s Shotoku Rinaldo Corporation (SRC). That agreement has since been amended to propose a joint venture between Genius Wise Holdings and SRC subsidiary, Current Corp.
The companies are planning a bid to develop an integrated resort on land acquired by Nagasaki prefectural officials at Dutch-inspired theme park Huis Ten Bosch. The IR would feature, “hotels, casinos, restaurants, shops, entertainment facilities and convention centers with approximately 400,000 square meters total floor area,” Get Nice has previously stated.
On Tuesday, Get Nice confirmed it had paid the HK$25 million earnest money despite having yet to enter into a definitive agreement with SRC or Current Corp. The MOU may be terminated if an agreement is not signed by 30 September 2020.
“The payment of the Earnest Money by Genius Wise Holdings Limited represents the Group’s gesture to show its interest in the possible formation of joint venture with SRC/Current relating to the project,” Get Nice said.
The Get Nice/Current collaboration is one of three likely bids to develop a Nagasaki IR, the others set to come from Oshidori International Holdings Ltd and Casinos Austria.
Get Nice previously held a 65% stake in Macau’s Grand Waldo hotel and casino, which it sold to Galaxy Entertainment Group in 2013 for HK$3.25 billion (US$419 million). Galaxy has since converted the complex into Broadway Macau.