The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has given the green light for a new share issuance by Palasino Holdings Ltd, a newly-listed subsidiary of developer Far East Consortium (FEC), with the issuance aiming to raise some HK$15.3 million ($2 million).
The new share offer is set to commence from 9am on April 23rd.
Palasino Holdings Ltd, a European gaming and leisure firm incorporated in the Cayman Islands, focuses on ‘entertainment, gaming and leisure’, operating an integrated resort in the Czech Republic, three hotels in Germany, and one hotel in Austria.
FEC is a joint venture partner with The Star and a 25 percent investor in the multi-billion dollar Queen’s Wharf Brisbane project.
The group announced on Friday that a portion of an over-allotment option involving 10,990,000 Palasino shares, equivalent to about 7.69 percent of the initial IPO, has been exercised.
The purpose of this issuance was outlined by Far East as set to return borrowed shares to Palasino’s selling shareholder, Ample Bonus Limited, an indirect subsidiary of the group used to cover over-allocations in the IPO.
Following this exercise, Palasino will issue 6,594,000 new shares and the selling shareholder will sell 4,396,000 shares at HK$2.60 ($0.33) per share, with the Far East stake at the gaming company to slightly decrease to 72 percent.
The additional net proceeds of approximately HK$15.3 million ($1.9 million) from the issuance of new shares under this over-allotment will be utilized by Palasino. Some of the use for the proceeds will include expanding the gaming business in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in central Europe and other markets.
On September 27th, 2023, Far East announced it was planning to spin-off Palasino – a company it acquired in 2018 – with a public and international offering of shares.
Palasino started trading on March 26th, 2024, with FEC stating at the time that market capitalization post-IPO was estimated at around HK$2.08 billion ($265.4 million), with proceeds to support market presence consolidation, expansion, and working capital.
Upon completion of the global offering, Far East – through a wholly-owned subsidiary –
indirectly controlled an aggregate of approximately 73.21 percent of the total issued share capital of Palasino.
