Suncity Group has confirmed it has significantly boosted its stake in the company that controls the Tigre de Cristal casino in Russia’s far east.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd announced that it had boosted its stake in Summit Ascent Holdings from 3.29% to 27.97% at a cost of HK$717.8m (US$104.3m). Summit Ascent holds a 60% stake in Oriental Regent Ltd, which operates Tigre de Cristal, the only casino currently active in Russia’s Primorye gaming zone outside Vladivostok.

Summit Ascent announced earlier this month that the Taiwan-based First Steamship Company Ltd was looking to offload its stake in the Russian venture. First Steamship acquired its stake in late-2017 after Tigre de Cristal’s founder, Melco Int’l boss Lawrence Ho, decided his casino fortunes lay elsewhere.

Since Suncity acquired its initial stake in Summit Ascent last November, the two companies have been growing ever closer. In January, the two companies moved next door to each other in the same Hong Kong office tower, suggesting an even tighter connection between the two may eventually be in store.