The statement said that ACDL’s principal shareholders, Harbinger Capital Partners and Pinnacle Entertainment, both U.S.-based, have reaffirmed their long-term commitment to the project.
In a stock filing this week, Pinnacle Entertainment said that MGM Resorts provided notice to ACDL on March 4 that it was exercising its right to terminate the management agreement “as a result of the failure to achieve certain pre-opening milestones before March 1.”
The project has been delayed, as ACDL has not received certain required government approvals, which has also led to a suspension of funding from its lenders. The first phase of the project is not likely to open before the end of this month, as previously anticipated. The first resort on the Ho Tram Strip was to be branded MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach.
MGM Resorts, the parent of Macau-based MGM China Holdings, was not itself a capital investor in the project. The company had an agreement with ACDL to provide development assistance, brand equity and to operate the five-star property upon completion.