Lotte Tour completes Jeju Tower financing

The developer has raised US$723m to complete the US$1.42bn project on Jeju Island due to be inaugurated on December 18.

South Korea.- Lotte Tour Development has raised KRW800bn (US$$723m) to complete the financing of its Jeju Dream Tower project.

It raised the funds through a mortgage and convertible bonds. The mortgage loans from Shinhan Investment Corp and Korea Investment & Securities Co. will provide KRW700bn. The remaining KRW100bn in four-year unsecured private bonds comes from CCG Investment Asia, an investment arm of Singapore’s CGS-CIMB Securities.

The bond carries an option to be converted to 5,847,953 common shares, or 7.8 per cent of the total outstanding issues, with a fixed price of KRW17,100 (US$15.47) per share.

Lotte Tour will spend KRW200bn repaying loans, and KRW350bn on settling a debt with its co-developer, China’s Greenland Group.

The developer intends to officially inaugurate Jeju Dream Tower on December 18.

The 38-storey tower cost US$1.42bn. Aside from a casino, it will include a 1,600-room Grand Hyatt hotel, 14 restaurants and bars, a shopping mall, an outdoor pool, two spas and a top-floor sky deck lounge.

The hotel is currently taking reservations. The Dream Tower foreigner-only casino is expected to open with about 140 gaming tables, 190 slot machines, and 70 electronic gaming machines.

Lotte Tour has moved its headquarters from Seoul to the property on Jeju island.