Inspire Entertainment Resort, a South Korean complex with foreigner-only casino, which was taken over in February by one of its lenders, private equity firm Bain Capital, is being offered for sale on the open market, GGRAsia has learned.
Bain Capital is understood to be committed to continuing to run the property, but would entertain offers if the valuation were attractive enough. Such an exercise would be via the banking sector, rather than a real estate broker, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
GGRAsia understands from the sources that other creditors of the property have pushed for the sale exercise.
News that the Inspire complex had been put up for sale was first reported by The Korea Times, citing an official notice it had seen.
The property (pictured), originally known as Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort, was developed by United States-based tribal gaming group Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority.
The complex opened its non-gaming facilities in November 2023, and its foreigner-only casino in February last year.
On February 14 this year, Mohegan noted in its interim report that the previous day it had received “notice of acceleration” from the principal lenders on a US$275-million Korea Term Loan, which had been due in 2027 according to the same filing, and against which the group had pledged its shares in MGE Korea Ltd, which controls the Inspire property.
Following what Bain Capital said was a breach of financial covenants, the financial institution moved to appropriate 100 percent of the shares in MGE Korea Ltd.
According to information learned by GGRAsia, the valuation and open market sales process could actually clear the way for Bain Capital to finalise its own appropriation of the property.
That is because a formal sale process and an independent valuation conducted by a third-party would be required to assess the property’s fair market value, an essential step to formalise the ownership of the complex.
