Another delay hits the opening of Macau’s luxury The 13 hotel

In Macau, local hotel developer The 13 Holdings Limited has reportedly announced that it has again postponed the opening of its The 13 property and does not now expect to begin welcoming guests to the luxury venue until the end of April. Costing approximately $1.6 billion to build, The 13 had originally been due to commence operations on a 65,000 sq ft plot of land near the border between the Cotai and Coloane districts of Macau last July but this deadline was later missed after the developer ran out of usable cash. The 13 Holdings Limited, which was previously known as Louis XIII Holdings Limited until a 2016 name-change, subsequently floated a March 31 opening date as it undertook steps to raise additional funds. According to reports from Asia Gaming Brief and GGRAsia, one of these actions reportedly saw the developer initiate a capital reorganization program that it explained would allow it to save approximately $223.5 million by consolidating shares and reducing exposure. Hong Kong-listed The 13 Holdings Limited has now reportedly declared that it hopes to open The 13 ‘on or before’ April 30 while additionally stating that it already holds all of the necessary non-gaming licenses from the Macau Government Tourism Office. “Additional time was required by both the company and the valuer for the preparation and the due diligence works in respect of the valuation assessment on The 13 hotel project, which resulted in delays in the expected timetable for the rights issue,” reportedly read a statement from The 13 Holdings Limited. “The hotel opening, as at the latest practicable date, is expected to be on or before April 30, 2018.” Regarding rumors that The 13 may one day feature a casino, The 13 Holdings Limited reportedly proclaimed that the authorization to operate any such venue remains ‘subject to the approval of the Macau government’ and, therefore, the likelihood that such an enterprise will open ‘remains an uncertainty’.