Iris Capital buys Casino Canberra from Aquis Entertainment for US$42 million.

Aquis Entertainment, established in Australia, sold Casino Canberra site Aquis Canberra Pty Ltd to Iris CC Holdings Pty Ltd for AU$63 million, or US$42.5 million. This sale is irreversible.

Buy:

Iris gave Aquis AU$60,500,000 (US$40,800,000) to complete the sale.

Escrow will release AU$2.5 million (US$1.7 million) in nine months. Not a warranty claim.

They will also repay their AU$20.4 million loan to Aquis Canberra Holdings (Aus) Pty Ltd., its largest stakeholder. Casino Canberra debt.

Aquis announced, “The firm will now decide how to spend the rest of the money from the transaction and whether or not to stay a listed corporation on the ASX.”

“Aquis’ director and CEO, Allison Gallaugher, is stepping down, and lawyers Simon Chan and Tony Pickett have been appointed non-executive directors. Iris Capital will retain Casino Canberra CEO Gallaugher.

“As a Board, we are very glad to have negotiated and closed this arrangement, which is excellent for everyone,” Gallaugher added.

In addition he added, “Tony Fung helped us buy Casino Canberra. We couldn’t have grown the company and made the agreement with Iris without his aid.

“I’m proud to lead the Casino Canberra under Iris’ ownership as CEO and employee. We’re excited to build on our past successes and explore Iris’s future.”

Renovation of a property turned down:

Moreover, Aquis sold Casino Canberra because it couldn’t agree with the ACT government on how to spend AU$330 million (US$226 million) fixing it. Aquis bought Casino Canberra in 2014. It proposed installing up to 500 slot machines in 2015, which is illegal.

In December of 2018, the government turned down their initial offer because of the lack of clarity surrounding the legislation and financing. In fact, Aquis declined the ACT Government’s tight license for 200 slot machines and 60 EGMs.