Caesars’ South Korean JV partner looking for suckers to take over its stake

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment’s South Korean joint venture partner is looking for someone to take over its share in the Incheon integrated resort project.

In a filing on Monday with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Indonesian property developer Lippo Group said the two partners in the LOCZ Korea Corp joint venture had failed to make their land acquisition deal unconditional before the stipulated Dec. 31 deadline.

Shortly before Christmas, Lippo had warned that there was “no certainty” that the LOCZ Korea project would go ahead, in part because of the parties’ inability to agree to terms on the acquisition of the 89k-square-meter plot of land owned by MIDAN City Development Co Ltd, an indirect subsidiary of Lippo.

In Monday’s filing, Llippo emphasized that the deal wasn’t officially dead just yet. But for the first time, Lippo referenced the “current outlook for the gaming industry in North Asia,” reflecting the fact that the project was approved long before China’s leaders began choking off the flood of high-rolling gamblers to South Korea’s casinos.