Genting Hong Kong Ltd, an operator of casino cruise ships and investor in Asian land-based casinos, says that a deal to sell and lease back an under-construction vessel intended for its Crystal Cruises business has now been terminated. The liner is currently being built in one of the shipyards of Genting Hong Kong in Germany.

In a December filing, Genting Hong Kong said the parties had agreed to terminate the deal because of the “substantial delay in construction and delivery of the vessel due to the impact of pandemic as well as the worldwide freeze of cruise operations and the uncertainty in relation to new constraints to allow the operations to resume.”

In late 2019, Genting Hong Kong said that its subsidiary Crystal Endeavor SAS had agreed to sell the vessel for a total consideration of EUR350 million. The deal involved also a “subordinated loan agreement” with the purchaser, under which Crystal Endeavor SAS would grant a loan of up to EUR300 million – with a 7% interest rate per year – to the purchaser to finance the acquisition.

The purchaser was identified at the time as SNC Endeavor Leasing, a company incorporated in France, and which is wholly-owned by Cafi Hester and Doumer Finance. The latter two companies are indirect units of banking institution Crédit Agricole Group.