The 13’s shares lose half their value after financing plan news

The company behind an unfinished Macau casino-hotel for Asia’s 1% saw its shares lose over 50% of their value after reports that the company was seeking a serious cash injection.

On Friday, The 13 Holdings Ltd informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it planned to raise up to HKD 1.7b (US $218m) through a combination of a rights offering and debt financing. Later that same day, trading in the company’s shares was halted after their value plummeted 52%.

The company, which is run by flamboyant Hong Kong investment banker Stephen Hung, said the extra financing was needed in order to complete its über-luxurious Macau hotel project, The 13, by March 31, 2018. The project originally planned to open in 2016.

In June, The 13 Holdings announced that it was selling its 51.6% stake in its construction arm, Paul Y Engineering Group Ltd (PYE), for HKD 300m. The company acknowledged that this PYE fire sale would force it to record a loss of HKD 338m but claimed the divestiture would help streamline management’s focus on completing the hotel.