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Controversy continues to embroil Marriott…Private investors have no experience in Hotel Industry
– their businesses include lottery, mining
The Chinese private investors for the Marriott Hotel do not come with the background in the hotel industry that Winston Brassington had demanded.
The Georgetown Marriot
Instead, the named investors come with a background of primarily mining and lottery.
Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI) over the weekend announced that ACE Square Investment Inc is the investor and its affiliate, Ace Square Management Ltd will operate the Entertainment Complex.
Winston Brassington, who set up AHI, in October 2012, had told the media that they are “looking for operators who have already established themselves as a brand regionally or internationally and can demonstrate extensive knowledge of the particular field of operation.”
By way of an advertisement in the Tuesday, October 23, 2012 issue of the Guyana Chronicle (p.14), AHI said that it was seeking “expressions of interest from reputable organizations to outfit, operate and maintain” the three entities in the Entertainment Complex namely the Casino, Night Club and Specialty Restaurant in the Hotel.
The advertisement stipulated that each may be operated individually or collectively, and that the first preference would be individuals or organizations already involved in the business.
Two years later, AHI announced that British Virgin Islands registered ACE Square Investments Ltd, is now the majority share owner of the project (67 per cent) and that Ace Square Management Ltd, reported to be an affiliated company of ACE Square Investments Ltd., have been selected to operate the Entertainment Complex.
Hong Kong businessmen, Victor How Chung Chan, and Xu Han have been identified as the shareholders of the companies.
According to AHI, in its announcement on Saturday last, Victor Chan has diverse and substantial investment interests both in Hong Kong and China.
“He is an Executive Director of the REXLOT Group and is the single largest shareholder and Founder and Director of the REX Resources Group.”
The REXLOT Group is said to be the leading lottery system and distribution company in China and has extensive operations in China’s lottery market, through its local subsidiaries and international joint ventures.
The REX Resources Group is principally engaged in gold, coal, rare earth and other metal, mining exploration and development, both in China and internationally.
Chan is also said to be the leading investor and shareholder of China Gamma Group.
Xu Han is reported to be a long-standing business associate of Chan and holds graduate degrees from prominent US and Hong Kong universities.
Additionally, Han has over 30 years of global experience in both the public and private sectors, such as finance, gaming, and mining.
Observers are now questioning on what basis the BVI registered company, owned by the two Chinese businessmen was chosen to invest US$8M.
Last September, when Brassington announced that four proposals had been submitted to operate the entertainment complex of the Marriott branded hotel, he said that the potential operators had to submit conceptual designs of the entertainment complex “to show they have a concept of what they are looking to do with some level of details.”
Brassington said that information provided would allow Government to judge the potential operators on technical and financial capabilities to undertake this project with respect to both resources and technical people, who would operate the casino.
In its announcement on Saturday last, AHI did not identify who were the three others that had been vying to operate the Entertainment Complex.
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