iProsperity Group buys Vanuatu's casino-hotel resort Iririki Island

iProsperity Group buys Vanuatu's casino-hotel resort Iririki Island
Staff reporterDecember 7, 2020

Iririki Island, an island resort and casino near Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila, has reportedly been sold.

The 28 hectare resort is described as the jewel in the crown of Vanuatu and boasts the nation’s “premier” gambling den, according to selling agents Jones Lang LaSalle.

Its sale was reported by Nine Entertainment.

Meanwhile the local paper has reported Vanuatu government is talking with investors from Laos interested in setting up another casino in the country, with the capital of Port Vila and Luganville on Santo in the north excluded as locations because there was a need to boost growth and jobs on other Vanuatu islands.

Iririki has 72 villas, five bars and restaurants and a day spa.

The Australian reported the JLL sales brochure didn't advise on a long-running legal fight with some of the owners of another 68 units on the island over a long list of issues including rent, body corporate fees and insurance.

Darren Pettiona, a former executive with funds management empire Van Eyk, co-owns it with his brother, Shane.

One of the unit owners is Melbourne man Raphael Sztrochlic.

“Anything that’s involved with Iririki is just a nightmare,” Sztrochlic told The Australian.

The dispute will be heard in Port Vila on June 11.

One of the issues centres on the proceeds of a $20 million insurance payout from QBE Insurance after 2015’s Cyclone Pam devastated the ­island

Pettiona has sold prior court hearings the resort was worth about $32 million.

In 2017 Melbourne's wealthy Zagame family put their Grand Hotel & Casino resort in Vanuatu\up for sale with market expectations of around $25 million.

Built in 2003, the eight-level hotel overlooks the Port Vila Harbour and offers views towards Iririki Island.

It features 15 gaming tables, 136 slot machines, a VIP top-floor gaming room, a restaurant, conference rooms, four bars, a pool and spa.

The family's involvement in Vanuatu dates back to 2001 when they were part of the consortium of Victorian hoteliers that purchased the private island resort of Iririki.

Patriarch Victor Zagame established the family's hospitality business in 1971 with the opening of the Albion Charles Hotel in Northcote in Melbourne's north east.

Another of the key players in Vanuatu is Amax whose main businesses involves operating online gaming businesses in Vanuatu.

 

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