Major partner in consortium to buy failed Spirit development, Macau casino boss Loi Keong Kuong has vast Australian investments and own island
A 59-year-old billionaire Macau casino king is fast becoming the man Gold Coast property agents are clamouring to meet. Here’s why.
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LOI Keong Kuong has kept a relatively low profile in Australia, but may struggle to keep it that way after a volley of high-profile commercial property purchases which include major office buildings and a whole island off the Queensland coast.
The 59-year-old billionaire chairman of Rio Hotel and Casino in Macau is fast becoming the man property agents are clamouring to meet as the number of mainland Chinese investors dwindles.
It has emerged Mr Loi and his family would be majority owners of the failed $1.3 billion Spirit development at Surfers Paradise if the sale goes through due diligence and earns the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board.
The consortium seeking to buy the site created a company on Valentines Day called 3 Trickett Street Pty Ltd, with directors including Mr Loi and two of his children, Canadian-born Jack Loi and Macau-born Ka Hou Loi.
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Former Jewel development partners Ridong Australia have a 10 per cent stake in the company while the Loi family, through a company incorporated in Melbourne, have 60 per cent; Macau resident Kun Man Ieong has 10 per cent; and Port Melbourne resident Chi Wai Leong holds 20 per cent.
Mr Loi’s first foray into Gold Coast property was the Soul Boardwalk retail and dining centre at Surfers Paradise for $90 million just before Christmas.
Through his Australian companies, Mr Loi also owns the exclusive Double Island off Palm Cove near Cairns, and spent $265 million on an office tower in the Sydney CBD in May.
The billionaire also owns ExxonMobil’s headquarters in Melbourne’s Southbank, bought for $176 million in 2017, and his Rio International Investment company has millions of dollars worth of commercial property in Singapore.
Mr Loi’s investments are not only in real estate and casinos — he reportedly put just over $40 million into Singapore gaming start-up Razer in 2017.
Property agents who have dealt with Mr Loi describe him as a very private man, who seldom speaks publicly.
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