Tony Fung Decides To Turn Sheraton Mirage Into Mega Casino Resort
Hong Kong Billionaire and Aquis Entertainment chairman Tony Fung has been on a multi-million dollar spending spree for quite some time now acquiring new casinos, setting up new deals and buying personal property for himself. Fung’s latest purchase is for a $280 million property on the Gold Coast of Australia.
Fung has purchased the Marina Mirage and the Sheraton Mirage on the glitter strip and plans to integrate both properties in the near future and convert it into mega casino resort precinct.
Fung believes that the Gold Coast is yet to reach its full potential and his Aquis Entertainment company has the plans and resources to turn the Gold Coast into an even bigger attraction in Queensland.
In a statement, Fung said
The Gold Coast is one of those rare destinations that enjoys instant recognition throughout Asia. As the only five star resort on the Gold Coast that enjoys a beachfront location the Mirage property has a host of natural advantages in its current use or as a future development opportunity.
While Aquis Entertainment has not disclosed the terms and the conditions involved for the acquisition of the Sheraton Mirage, industry analysts believe that Fung would have paid close to $160 million to complete the acquisition. Fung would like to turn this integrated property into a mega casino project but to do so would need the approval of the Queensland government and a casino license. Industry analysts confirm that Aquis Entertainment and the Queensland government are currently in confidential negotiations and will most likely reach an agreement in the near future.
If Fung gets approval and starts his mega casino project, his biggest rival on the Gold Coast will be Echo Entertainment who operate the Jupiter Casino at Broadbeach. Echo Entertainment are not very happy with the Fung’s proposal and believe that the licensing of a new casino on the Gold Coast could be disastrous for business, unless Fung has a plan to import thousands of high stake gamblers from across the world.
Fung does not seem to be too worried about finding customers for his casinos in Australia as the Chinese tycoon recently acquired a $8.15 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef casino resort in Cairns and believes his casinos in Australia will do extremely well. Fung wants to promote Queensland as a tourist hub and target the mega rich in China who have a strong tendency to gamble and spend large sums of cash.
