Tigre de Cristal Looking to Raise $38m in Fresh Funds

• Tigre de Cristal’s VIP results beat forecasts
• Nearly 300 million shares to be placed in a funding round
• The funding round hopes to raise $38 million

Tigre de Cristal’s financial performance is headed for a record-high VIP segment profit, but the resort still needs more money to complete its development.

Summit Ascent Seeks to Raise $38 Million

Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd continues to bet big on the Tigre de Cristal casino resort, a Northern gambling gateway in the Russian frost-bitten territories. The company is now looking to raise additional $38 million through the sale of shares that will be issued in the coming weeks.

Ascent Holdings Ltd Communicated its intentions with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, July 25, with a preliminary agreement including some 300 million shares. The company will have to sell to at least six independent parties with the price per action at roughly $0.15. The company specified that it’s expecting to raise $38 million.

Why Does the Tigre Needs More Capital?

In its official statement, Ascent explained that the fresh proceeds will be used to develop the gaming and hospitality verticals in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone, a special territory in Russia that has been designed for the purposes of economic ventures, and gambling specifically. The money should help the property:

• Bolster its VIP segment
• Up the count of slot and table games
• Replace old games with new ones
• Transition to stage two of the second phase of development

Tigre de Cristal’s location may seem remote, but it has been successfully drawing customers from China as well as North and East Asia. The second phase of investment in the resort would be anything between $400 million and $500 million.

Refurbishing the Venue and Building a World Class Casino

The property is already in “phase two” of its development process. As of immediate plans, Tigre de Cristal will be adding 50 more gaming tables specifically targeting the VIP segment and replacing any old-fashioned devices on the property.

Estimated 300 new slot machines will also be included in the property, signalling Tigre’s ability to cater to demand but also the expected potential influx. The VIP segment is of particular importance to the casino with the segment jumping by 250% in May, 2019.

Eric Landheer, director at Ascent, has been optimistic about the project despite the huge sums that are needed to bring the second stage of development to a meaningful conclusion. In May, 2019, Brokerage Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd suggested that Tigre de Cristal’s VIP proceedings could hit a record $7 billion, putting the property on the map in a big way.