Straco completes S$140m acquisition of Singapore Flyer

Singapore

STRACO Leisure, a subsidiary of tourism operator Straco Corporation, has completed its acquisition of the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel for S$140 million.

Mainboard-listed Straco Corporation announced on Friday morning that the deal - involving the acquisition of business and assets - was completed on Thursday.

Straco Leisure secured an S$84 million loan from DBS to pay for the acquisition partially.

The ferris wheel - which cost S$240 million to build - came under the spotlight in May last year when the company behind the now six-year-old attraction was placed in receivership. It was later put up for sale, with advertisements appearing in major newspapers including the US Wall Street Journal.

Straco Corporation is a Singapore developer, operator, and investor of tourism-related projects, which include the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and Underwater World Xiamen as well as Lintong Lixing Cable Car in Xi'an, China.

The group is helmed by founder and executive chairman Wu Hsioh Kwang, who chairs the culture, education and community affairs committee at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. He is the vice-chairman of tourism and leisure for the Chinese business group at the Singapore Business Federation.

Earlier this month, Straco Corporation reported a net profit of S$19.5 million for the three months ended Sept 30, 2014, up 28 per cent from S$15.2 million a year ago. Revenue rose 26 per cent to S$38.6 million, from S$30.5 million.

Its Q3 results did not include that of the Singapore Flyer. The Business Times understands that the Flyer's results could be consolidated from December onwards, and will thus be partially reflected in fourth-quarter earnings.

The counter gained two Singapore cents or nearly 3 per cent to finish at 77 Singapore cents on Friday.