Taiwanese investors may rescue Tinian Dynasty

Taiwanese investors may rescue Tinian Dynasty

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Published on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 00:00

By Alexie Villegas Zotomayor – [email protected] – Variety News Staff

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THE Taiwanese investors who are seeking to acquire Tinian Dynasty may provide badly needed funding to the struggling hotel and casino, according to Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz.

“Howarm has $100 million that they want to pump into Tinian Dynasty,” he said. Variety was unable to get a comment from Howarm.

The construction giant’s subsidiary, HW Golden Island Holdings Limited, or HWGI, received a plenary casino operator’s license on Oct. 22, 2012.

Dela Cruz said Howarm representatives met with him, the governor and the attorney general on Monday and asked for 30 days to address issues surrounding the acquisition of the hotel-casino.

“They have to go back to talk to their board of directors and will return within 30 days,” the mayor said.

Among the issues are Dynasty’s tax liabilities to the CNMI government and licensing fees.

He said Howarm will pay the casino license fees.

“Then they are going to fully disclose to the CNMI government their business plan, not only for the acquisition but also for the rehabilitation of Tinian Dynasty,” said Dela Cruz.

The mayor said the company reiterated its intention to acquire the hotel.

Asked about the other group of investors based in Macau, Dela Cruz said, without disclosing the company’s name, that it has obtained a casino license application.

“With their experience as junket operators and promoters, they are saying they can bring in affluent gamblers from Macau, Singapore and Korea who can actually pump in the kind of business that will make Tinian Dynasty grow ten-fold,” he said.

As to whether this company and Howarm are negotiating, Dela Cruz said, “I don’t know.”

Taiwanese investors want to acquire Tinian Dynasty largely because of the “no visa” requirement that allows Chinese tourists to travel to the CNMI.

HWGI president Ken Tzu-Sen Lin earlier said they plan to add approximately 300 rooms to the existing 412 rooms and build golf courses as well as improve the island’s infrastructure.

They have also said they plan to establish a tourism and gaming school for local residents.

Taiwanese investors may rescue Tinian Dynasty