Japan: Suncity Group withdraws from Wakayama IR bid

Wakayama’s IR bid is at risk after Suncity Group’s decision to pull out of the process.

Japan.- A week after the Wakayama IR Promotion Council urged the prefecture to quickly choose a private partner for its IR bid, Suncity Group has decided to withdraw from the process.

Now there is only one remaining applicant to become the prefecture’s private partner of its bid – Clairvest Group. That leaves Wakayama in a similar situation as Osaka, which also has just one contender for its IR bid – MGM-Orix.

In the worst case scenario, Wakayama could even lose the chance to bid for an IR licence.

Suncity Group had seemed to be highly committed to bidding for the Wakayama IR development after opening offices last September and assigning a budget of between US$3.9bn and US$4.5bn for the project.

According to local media, Alvin Chau, Suncity Group Chairman, said the company has made this decision due to uncertainty caused by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chau alo said: “The IR certification process in Japan appears set to take a lot longer than expected. Many things remain unclear, but we must consider the risks as a business operator.”