Norwegian company Brova Idea AS has told Business Daily that they have been contracted to develop a floating structure with a hotel and casino to be docked in the MSAR but that they have no relationship with the US$500 million cryptocurrency initial coin offering (ICO) announced by one of its partners.
According to Brova Idea’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Milo Andric the project is named The Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel and is expected to be set up in Macau in April 2020, with the cost of the project calculated at some US$300 million.
The Brova Idea representative said the company had signed a contract to build The Dragon Pearl and has already used “quite a significant amount of money” on design and pre-engineering; once it receives the funds it will be able to start proper engineering per the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.
Registered in Norway, Brova Idea AS is a company solely focused on developing floatable structures and is part of the Brova Group owned by the Andric family.
The floating structure will have a hotel named The Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel, with 400 guest rooms, restaurants, retail space and 16,000 square metres of gaming space.
Mystery partners
Divulged in a recent report from American news broadcaster CNBC, the CEO of Thai company Wi Holding, Chakrit Ahmad, stated that an alleged Macau gaming company named Dragon Corp. was seeking to raise US$500 million through an ICO.
According to Mr. Ahmad, the resulting cryptocurrency would be used by junket operators, allowing currency owners to effectively become shareholders in the junkets or even in casinos through credit provided by junkets to gaming operators.
The money raised through the ICO would also allegedly be used to fund the construction of the Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel.
When asked about the issue, the Director of the local gaming authority, Paulo Martins Chan, stated that his department did not have any register of a connection between Dragon Corp., Wi Holdings and the Macau gaming sector.
A video showcasing the Dragon Pearl floating hotel concept, posted before the CNBC report, included Mr. Ahmad stating his company would make use of its Macau partners to bring the project to the city, with a man named Las H Choi – described as the Chief Operating Officer of China Kingdom Company Limited – stating blockchain technology would be “a great solution for players and a new model of operation for gaming industries in the world”.
When checking official commercial records, Business Daily could find no record – either in English or in Portuguese – that Dragon Corp. or China Kingdom Company Limited existed in Macau.
In a response sent to Business Daily, Mr. Andric stated that Wi Holding had approached Brova Idea with the idea of building a floating hotel in Macau but was adamant that Brova Idea was not involved in the fundraising for the project.
“Wi Holding was the one that contacted us and are a partner, but definitely not the contracting partner […] We’re a serious company and we’re a serious business […] I will receive my money in euros and the rest is really not my business,” Mr. Andric added.
The video with statements from Brova Idea representatives and Wi Holdings and its Macau partners were also produced separately, he added.
From Hanøytangen to Macau
According to a presentation of The Dragon Pearl sent to Business Daily the floating structure will be movable and totally self-sustainable, making use of renewable energies such as solar power and heat recovery systems, with recycling of all organic material and waste taking place on site.
‘Each custom-built floating structure is built on top of North Sea strength concrete platforms, designed to resist the impact of a tanker ship at full speed […] Each ‘Pearl’ platform enjoys the added safety feature of a Brova double hull, making the floating structures virtually
un-sinkable,’ the project introduction informs.
These floating structures are also able to either be ‘anchored to the seabed or rest directly on it depending on the depth of the water’ being transported from its production location in Hanøytangen, Norway to its final destination by a heavy lift vessel operator. The transport time is estimated at 40 days with delivery calculated ‘to the hour’.
The structures can also include space for parking, spa/gymnasium, or an enclosed area in which restaurants, shops or other communal areas such as swimming pools can be located.
According to Andric, Brova Idea is currently preparing three floating hotel projects, two projects named The Pearl and one The Dragon Pearl.
The two floating structure projects named The Pearl include a 5-star hotel with 187 guest rooms and 17 suites, and are to be delivered to an undisclosed Middle Eastern country before 2021 and 2022.
The structures’ concept design and development is carried out by Norwegian firms Dr.techn.Olav Olsen, naval architect YSA AS – Petter Yran and UAE based Bishop Design.
