Entertainment bet

Singapore's biggest property developer, CapitaLand Ltd, said last week it is paying HK$658 million for a 20 percent stake in an entertainment project in Macau, its first investment in the city.

The company is buying the stake from eSun Holdings Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong developer Lai Sun Development Ltd, according to Bloomberg News.

ESun will own 40 percent of the project. The remainder will be owned by a group of US-based investors including Silver Point Capital LP and Oaktree Capital Management LLC.

The company said the joint venture would provide CapitaLand an opportunity to enter into Macau, one of the biggest gambling and entertainment markets in the world, to capitalize on the tremendous growth potential there.

Insurer expansion

The nation's fifth-largest property and casualty insurer China Continent Property & Casualty Insurance Co, which derived from the original People's Insurance Company of China, said last week it will boost its capital by 72 percent in a bid for major business expansion.

The Shanghai-based company gained approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to increase its registered capital from one billion yuan to 1.72 billion yuan.

The injection of capital will come from its existing shareholder, China Reinsurance Co, and Ningbo Municipal Electric Power Developing Co.

The company expects premiums of 10 billion yuan this year, a targeted growth of 58 percent. Its premiums gained 67 percent to 6.35 billion yuan in 2006.

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